The third round of the All-Japan Rally Championship, the “Ganbaro, Fukushima MSCC Rally” (a gravel event) was held from June 7 to 9 in Tanagura, Fukushima prefecture. In the JN2 Class, Tatsuya Kato and Koichi Okada, both driving Mazda Demio entries, got onto the second and third steps of the winner's podium. However, in the same class, the only woman in the group, Rina Ito went off on SS14 on Day 2. She was forced to drop out of the race.

At the age of 22, second-place Kato is in only his third year since making his rallying debut. He said, “It's been about two years since I first got behind the wheel of the Demio. I don't have a lot of experience on gravel, but I feel like the car's good balance really helped me out. While driving this year, I've been imagining myself finishing at the top of the JN2 class, both on tarmac and on gravel. On this occasion in Fukushima, I didn't have enough experience, and a Vitz got ahead of me, so next time I want to try and perform a little better. Ultimately, I'd like to get a victory soon.” His teammate Rina Ito said, “Because of the ruts in the corners, I made contact with a wall, went off course and couldn't get back on. I'm still inexperienced, but I've already proved that I'm strong in the Demio, so I'm going to work hard in my effort to go faster. Thank you so much to everyone for cheering me on.”

Okada, who was third in class, made the following comment: “Last time at Kumakogen, my drive shaft broke in two, and due to that bad luck I unfortunately had to drop out of the race, but apparently the problem was caused by the diff. For this round, I made sure that it was perfectly set up. However, this time the youngsters were very fast. K, who got first place, is 29, and the young hopeful who came in second, Kato, is only 22. It's like I'm competing against my son's generation, and it might have come down to the difference in the speed of our reflexes (laughs). But I'm not going to pull any punches next time at Toya. Anyhow I think it'll be a fun competition. Everyone, please keep supporting the Demio team, which includes Rina.”