Things seemed to be looking up after we completed the design inspection with very few negative comments. Then, reality struck again. The technical inspector came knocking at our pit and made another round of thorough checks.

Verdict: the front bumper was not properly attached to the frame, the front rack needed adjustment and the fuel hose pipe rings were not of the right specification – Failure yet again.

Our boys felt some cold sweat. How would we fix all these problems over night with such limited tools we carried with us?! This is going from bad to worse.

As they say, heroes would emerge during the difficult times and ours came at the time of greatest needs. The team from Shizuoka Institute of Science and Technology, who were stationed at a pit a couple of tents away from ours came asking and generously and selflessly offered their sincere help.

Not much needed to be said. With the help from the boys in blue, our car got loaded up into the back of their truck. Then, off we went to their university workshop.