Round 8 of the All-Japan Rally Championship, the MCSC Rally Highland Masters, was held near Takayama, Gifu Prefecture on October 12 (Sat.) and 13 (Sun.), where the driving duo of Koki Nakamura and Naoki Fujiwara took the first JN1 class victory of their careers in their first Japan Rally Championship appearance this season, at the traditional high-speed tarmac rally. Five Mazda Demios were also entered in the JN2 Class, with Tatsuya Kato and Hirokazu Nishie taking third place. Both Koichi Okada and Rina Ito withdrew on Day 1.

A total of 40 rally cars started from the ski slopes at Mont Deus Hida Kuraiyama, with five of them in the JN1 Class. The class turned into a duel between Takumi Nanba and Mitsuo Ishigetani in the Mazda RX-8, who have won twice this season, and Nakamura and Fujiwara. Nakamura made his fourth appearance in the Japanese Rally Championship after a 10-year absence, leading this season's two-time winner Nanba and the class from SS1. A close battle unfolded on Day 1, with a gap of less than a second between the top cars.

In SS8 on Day 2, Namba recorded the stage's fastest time, beating Nakamura by seven seconds, but on the final SS, Nakamura put in a time some 18 seconds quicker than Nanba, winning his first ever Japanese Rally Championship race as a result. Nakamura expressed his satisfaction, “The road surface was half wet, so the conditions weren't the most favorable for the RX-8, but the tires felt good, and I felt like I could make a go of it from SS1. On Day 1, I was competing for time with Nanba, and I was able to take back the top spot by a margin of just 1.6 seconds. On Day 2, the conditions were mostly dry, and Nanba made a spurt, taking a lead of about 10 seconds after SS7 and SS8. However, on the repeat run through those tests as the last two stages, SS9 and SS10, by focusing on my attack, I was able to make a good run that gave me lead of 21 seconds over Nanba. My goal for the season is to enter and win the All-Star Rally Festival.”

In the JN2 Class, with his third place finish, Kato moved into fourth place in the points' standings, with just 0.6 points separating he and Okada.