The first round of the Africa Rally Championships (ARC), Rally of Tanzania, was held from February 9th to 10th in Tanzania. TEIN’s president, Mr. Ichino participated again as the co-driver to Mr. Miyoshi. The approximately 600km long rally course was held in the surrounding areas of Daressalaam. Trouble struck the pair even before the rally started.

With troubling domestic affairs in Kenya, the pairs’ Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.IX got held up at Mombasa harbor. They had to give up on their car but were lucky enough to borrow a Lancer Evo.VII, just before the start. A local mechanic worked all night to prepare the car for the rally as they were desperate not to retire from the rally! They salvaged a domestic spec TYPE HG shock absorber from a wreck at the end of SS1. Driver, Mr. Miyoshi, commented “the shock absorber wasn’t anything close to the TYPE Gr.N, but it was 100 times better than the OE shock absorber!” Though the shock absorber was not well suited for the African terrain they were satisfied with its performance and their run.

They overcame various problems including brake hose damage, during SS2 but the borrowed Lancer Evo. VII still had a frightening amount of power, and they were able to finish Leg 1in 9th place. As trouble arose, they continued to fight on, but during the final SS, even the engine, which had been running powerfully, started misfiring. It grew worse and worse as they continued and it felt like it wasn’t long before the engine would completely stop. During the final stages they were struck with a severe downfall of rain, but they were able to set the fastest time to end the opening rally in 8th place and acquire 3 valuable points! As they overcame various troubles, they never gave up, and they were able to learn yet again the true essence of rally racing. At the end of the rally, their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.IX, equipped with the TYPE Gr.N, finally cleared customs and from round 2, they will aim for the top.