# 6. Practice Day 2 July 17, 2008 (Thu.)

Today, I ran top section for practice.
The course is really difficult this year! Road works make the width smaller. Not only the steps I told you before, but the hay that was laid on the banks of the road prevent drivers to cut the corners.

Thunderstorm that hit last night has made the course muddy. The surface of the road is turned over and it became extremely soft and loose because drainage channels have been laid on recently. I just cannot drive there with tires we used last year here!! I have never seen such a bad situation before.

I have cancelled the first run starts at 5:30 in the early morning because of the terrible condition. It was still dark. We waited for the next run from 6:30 checking and setting up our XL7. We expected even a little recovery of the condition! The sun has risen, and the detail of the surface was unveiled. Very difficult.

I started the practice carefully. I clocked the fastest time among all the competitors sometimes, but the time is far worse than last year. I've heard other drivers say "No one can break the record this year" or "We will make an effort to just cross the finish line".
Actually, I guess that might be right. Our challenge to beat the barrier will be a tough work.
But I never give up!


from Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs
SUZUKI SPORT Nobuhiro Tajima

Driver	Machine	Run.1	Run.2	Run.3	Run.4
Nobuhiro Tajima	Suzuki XL7	DNS	03:06.210	02:59.050	02:57.760