Ten days before setting off to England for the warm-up rally, I was suddenly hit with exhaustion and a high fever of no clear cause — a week spent with my heart pounding, wondering how it would go.
Even so, from two days before departure I was back to my usual early-morning jobs (laughs), and on the day itself I packed in thirty minutes flat and left home.
By then I had no strength left even to run five metres, so I missed my shinkansen by a single minute — the usual chaotic start to one of my journeys.
A mountain of paperwork, and a fight against prices!
Meeting the driver again after four months, translating the English documents and checking what he had prepared — his careful preparation never fails to humble me.
I will post separately about the equipment, but this time the task was getting things as cheaply as possible in Japan. With the yen weak, the pound has jumped — needing 1.5 to 2 times the money — so anything we could source in Japan, we sourced thoroughly.
This rally requires a good deal of specified equipment, so as far as possible we decided to buy it in Japan and carry it over ourselves.
Working late into the nights before departure.
I know rally preparation is ninety per cent of it, but that lost week in bed this time was a serious setback.
What I started working on, night after night, was —
not stocking up on snacks (laughs),
but making Team Japan’s outfit for this rally.
When you go abroad, showing that you are Japanese matters a great deal. Why? Because being recognised as Japanese sometimes gets you real kindness — and sometimes gets you shouted at for being mistaken for Chinese instead.
The design, the printing, the ironing on — all of it done by hand!
Ah — the time for the airport is closing in. More soon!