HOME >> MOTORSPORT >> PHILOSOPHY >> Yoshio Fujimoto, Managing Director As I look back, I always wanted to rally, and this desperation was what kept me fascinated about speed all this time. When I was in college, I spent my time from morning to night in the Tanzawa Mountains. I felt the joy and difficulties of controlling the car, and just kept going. After I graduated, I took a day job and my 135,000yen salary was spent almost entirely on the car. Soon, Isuzu Motors hired me to drive in the Japanese Rally Championship. In 1986, I traveled to England for the RAC Rally as a member of the support team for Isuzu. I thought I was quite �egood' in Japan, but the scale of rally events abroad totally blew my mind. The length of the stages and the organization was beyond comparison to what I had known in Japan. It was a shocking experience. It made me want to compete there. You see I've always liked a challenge. After we established TEIN, I went to rally events abroad in search of a field for product development. With our own team TEIN Sport, we rallied around Asia and Oceania in a Gemini, Pulsar GTIR and a Lancer Evolution. During that period, in 1993 I was asked if I wanted to audition as a Toyota factory driver. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but Ove Andersson, the head of Toyota Team Europe (TTE) called me and said he wanted to audition me. Now that just wasn't possible to decline. The day of the audition was actually the recce for the Hong Kong-Beijing Rally. I cancelled that, flew to Silverstone and took the test. I was tested on basic rally performance, my knowledge on the regulations and my ability to communicate. There were four more Japanese drivers besides me, but I was the one they took. When they told me, I felt worried more than anything with the responsibility and anxiety that comes with being a professional driver. I then went through training as a professional driver in Cologne, Germany. In order to enter the WRC, you have to use a left hand drive car. To get used to it, I drove a lefty Celica even when I was back home to Japan. This was really difficult, but I know Ove had contested rallies in a right hand drive car, so I suppose he felt this was very important. I also started basic physical training; I trained in a gym and did special exercises on reflexes and stamina. Although I had expected it, taking my abilities to a higher level, that of the sports professional, was extremely difficult. This period of intensely hard work went on until my debut event, the Safari Rally. One day, as a finishing touch of the Japanese driver project, Ove Andersson told me to win on the Safari Rally in 1995. My first Safari Rally had been the previous year, and since it was my debut, I retired very early. After that, I entered the Acropolis, New Zealand and RAC. My teammates were top drivers Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol. They influenced me a lot, and I learned about performance and stability. After Ove's order was given, the training from hell began. Early that year, I took a 3-week basic training course in Australia. Along with general exercise, I went skiing, mountain climbing, bicycle riding, did shadow boxing and also Zen practice. It was in fact training to increase my muscular stamina and mental strength. I think it made my heart much stronger. We went to Kenya and spent five months there focused only on winning the Safari. I drove the 3000km-long course eight times, and memorized it by heart. But when it rains, a sudden flood will wash away everything including the landscape. Sometimes wild animals such as giraffes and elephants will block the road. Things are so unpredictable on the Safari; you really can say �eanything can happen'. During the rally, my confidence enabled me to build a 15-minute lead on day 1, but a mistake choosing tires led to a roll on day 2. I thought it was all over, but I kept the pace steady on day 3 and won the event. After the ceremony, my teammates threw me in to the hotel swimming pool, Ove was happy, and we were all overwhelmed. I heard that the word �esafari' in Swahili means �edeparture'. So this was definitely the ideal stage for TEIN's departure. And this challenge is without doubt where we started and what lies at the heart of our philosophy.