Typhoon approaching affected the weather and Round 5 MCA BARU started in the rain. Rally was held using both tarmac of the south Oita prefecture and Autopolis circuit. Round 4 highlighted the remarkable performance of young drivers like Shigeyuki Konishi, but this time, the hero was Norihiko Katsuta. Katsuta positioned in the 5th place in the leg 1 where Yukihiro Taguchi took the lead, and showed his best performance at the night stage in leg 2. He scored best times in various sections, to outgo veterans like Yujiro Nishio and Fumio Nutahara. He finally finished at top with margin to Nutahara by 2.4 seconds.

Round 5 was the first all-tarmac rally this season, with nine Special Stage in leg 1, and six in leg2. The road around the stock farm and the ridge were its route, but Kuzumi town in Oita prefecture was wet in rain affected by the approaching typhoon. Rally was held under thrill of attacking SS with tires for tarmac under wet condition. Impreza took a successful start as Norihiko Katsuta scored the best time from the first SS. However, from the middle of leg 1 which holds SS in the Autopolis, Lancers now counterattacked, and it was Fumio Nutahara, Yukihiro Taguchi, and Osamu Fukunaga who was scoring the best time. Yujiro Nishio was 2nd, and Katsuta was 5th when they turned over to leg 2.

However, although Taguchi had taken the lead, the gap between Nishio was 2.4 seconds and Katsuta was 6, leaving enough chance to upset with remaining 6 SS of leg-2. The rain had stopped and the road was dry. The night session started with Katsuta marking the best and the second best time from the beginning, and gradually filling the gap between Taguchi. Perhaps this could have pressured Taguchi, he half spun in the middle, and fell out of the lead. The latter half was more likely the battle between Nutahara, Nishio and Norihiko Katsuta. Katsuta had scored 3 best times in the 3 out of 6 SS, upset Nishio and Nutahara and won his first rally this year. Nutahara fell to 2nd place, and Nishio was 3rd.

Meanwhile, many expected high performance from Shigeyuki Konishi after his first victory in the previous round, but he had to back off as the mechanical problem in the beginning affected largely. However, he never gave up the rally, and when the car recovered in the leg-2, he scored best times and finished in 16th place. Impreza had won two consecutive rallies but what should be expected for the next round? Whether we should expect another new winner, the Hokkaido round will be held on September 14 to 15 in Akaigawa village, south of Otaru city.

"I've built a script in my head that I would build margin in the beginning, and although I may lose my position in the circuit, I will recover at the final leg. And it worked like this. I'm actually not good at circuits. If it rains, I can show my best performance though. I got the top at the end, but as it was matter of few seconds, the final SS 15 was most forceful for me because it's so easy to be turned over. I won this round, and the next is Akaigawa, one of my favorites, so I want to be at least in a 3rd place so it will be good for the rest for the season. Yes, I am still seeking for my chance."