Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, Day 35.
Two days to the finish.
Reaching the port, we parted from the main group and hurried straight to the hotel.
We had to pick up the ring gear arriving from New York,
and go straight on to the repair workshop.
Every minute counted.
There was no time left to stand still.
The miracle that came from New York
The ring gear, found by a miracle in New York — far from our driving route —
after our friends called out to the whole world.
Just having it found was unbelievable.
But would it really reach Italy?
Where and when could we receive it?
And even if we did, would the repair be done before the finish?
The package we had waited for, praying, arrived at the hotel by FedEx
after two in the afternoon.
The moment I opened the box and checked with my own hands the ring gear we had searched so long for, joy welled up from deep in my chest.
It arrived.
It really arrived!
Even a message was attached, to us, complete strangers.
Across the sea from New York, our last hope was right in front of us.
The miracle had not abandoned us yet.
But there was no time to rejoice.
Holding the ring gear, we hurried to the local repair workshop that was waiting for us.
Even if it arrives, we cannot run unless it is fitted
At the workshop, the local repair staff were waiting for us.
Work began at once.
But then!!
The car was built about 100 years ago.
Before fitting the new ring gear, the broken part had to be removed.
That job turned out to be far harder than we had imagined.
The old part would not budge easily.
If too much force were applied, something else might break.
Carefully, little by little.But the clock alone ran on, without mercy.
Two days to the finish.
The ring gear had arrived.
Even so, there was still no prospect of our running under our own power again — it was not going smoothly.
The work was to continue through the night.
A bitter memory that had stayed in a corner of my heart
Leaving the repair to the staff, I headed to the last dinner venue where the main group gathered.
As I went there, in my heart were the broken-down car, the day I decided to enter this rally,
and the days of hardship I had overcome countless times since.
In fact, there was another feeling that had never gone away.
We came from Japan.
And I could hardly speak any English.
From the time we entered until today,
communication with the organisers had often not gone well.
At the warm-up event in Morocco, I had barely exchanged a word with the organisers
before I retired. At the celebration party they would not even meet my eyes, and as for the Peking to Paris that lay ahead,
my loneliness and unease grew that I was not accepted on the road leading there.
Four years ago, when I first applied for Peking to Paris, I was turned down many times.
I had finally reached the starting line and chased desperately all the way here,
but the loneliness and frustration of that time had stayed in a corner of my heart.
A name suddenly called from the stage
At the dinner venue, the friends who had shared this long journey had gathered.
How things were at the workshop, “let’s finish together!”
my friends called out with worry and encouragement.
On this adventure, I had so many days when I left the route and retirement crossed my mind.
In communication where words would not get through, I felt myself fading away,
and there were days driven by loneliness and isolation.
But! I am still aiming for the finish together with everyone!
In the lively hall, the organiser was explaining the route to the final finish and recalling the days so far
into the microphone.
Suddenly, my name was called. “No. 11 KOMO, JAPAN…”
It was so sudden
that, not understanding what had happened, I looked at the stage,
and the organiser had started talking about us, the Japanese team… (probably…)
How, hit by countless breakdowns,
we had not retired, and had come back to the main group again and again.
How we had kept going without giving up, aiming for Paris.
And —
that today was my birthday.
A birthday I had nearly forgotten myself, so desperate was I just to get through each day.
A song of “Happy Birthday!” rose from the whole hall, and big applause enveloped me.
It was so sudden that I could not even cry from emotion, but everyone’s smiles made me happy.
The organiser, who had always felt so far away, had been watching our driving.
Even without a shared language, however late we were, the sight of us chasing without giving up had truly got through.
Peking to Paris, which turned me away so many times four years ago.
The bitter memory of Morocco, where it all ended without our exchanging a word.
All of it seemed to come gradually undone in my friends’ applause.
The greatest birthday of my life
I was happy.
My heart was full.
It was the first birthday like this in my life.
But I could not entrust my whole heart to joy.
Even then, work was continuing at the workshop to get car No. 11 running.
The ring gear that had arrived by miracle from New York had still not been fitted to the car.
Could we run tomorrow?
Would we make it to Paris in time?
I still did not know the answer.
Joy and emotion.
Impatience and anxiety.
Completely different feelings were swirling in my chest at the same time.
Even so, the applause I received that night was a great gift to me.
The night before the finish, not knowing whether the car could even run.
For the first time, I truly felt that I was running the same journey as the organisers and friends from all over the world.
We had not yet reached the finish in Paris.
But on that night, our feelings had surely reached everyone’s hearts.
The greatest birthday of my life.
That night, too, the work of bringing car No. 11 back to life went on.
The time left was only a little.
To be continued in Day 36…