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| Finally, La Festa Mille Miglia 2015 has entered its final stage. On October 18, day three, similar to the previous day, the race took place on a long-distance route of more than 300 kilometers. The party started from Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, driving southward to Kawaguchiko-cho, Yamanashi Prefecture, Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture and Hakone-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture. Blessed with fine weather, the entrants were driving on the route wearing a sunscreen. The entrants have driven more than 900 kilometers in total from day one, as for the participants from the International Bugatti Meeting, they have traveled a total of more than 1,900 kilometers for around 10 days. For modern cars, this travel distance is not a problem. However, considering that it is a historic car built from the 1920s to the 1960s, this schedule is quite hard, and fatigue piles up on the participants as well as the cars. By this stage, many cars have started to have a problem little by little. To fix a problem or make some temporary repairs to the cars, mechanics go along with each car during the race so that the entrants are able to finish the race. However, there is a case where a mechanic is unable to solve a problem. For example, if a car has a problem, but the mechanic has no parts. In this instance, other mechanics will give advice, lend some parts, or introduce another mechanic. They cooperate with each other to get the car working again. For many reasons, some entrants are not accompanied by such mechanic. When they had a car problem, mechanics from other team were trying to help those entrants in their vacant time, of course the mechanics repair their cars first, though. One mechanic commented, "I want as many entrants as possible to reach the finish line because they came all the way here to participate in the race. We help each other for their success." While I am writing this article after 3:00 am, mechanics have been struggling with car problems to reach the goal. They have also been fighting La Festa Mille Miglia. On day four, which will be the final day, the entrants will drive on a coastal road through Hakone, Oiso Prince Hotel, Enoshima, and Hayama, and pass through Yokohama and Ginza, then return to Meiji shrine where they started this race to cross the finish line. (text & photo：Shunichi Uchida） |
 Participants driving along Sai Lake with Mt. Fuji as a background  BUGATTI hurries to the goal while viewing Sengokuhara Japanese pampas grass fields in Hakone  MG PA MIDGET with Japanese pampas grass fields as a background  Will the mechanic start the work using headlight in this darkness?  Delicious meal and amusing conversation give entrants energy |
