4th ♯109 Wichawat CHOTIRAVEE / Chonlanut PHOPIPAT (Thailand, Isuzu D-MAX)

Cambodia first stage
Who was the conqueror of a fierce time fight!?

In the third day of Rally, it entered the middle rally. After crossing the border, hilly section along the border became the first stage of the Cambodia route. Reciprocating the selective Sector over 77km to the ridge connecting to the north and south is contested at a distance of a total of 154km. Of course, not to be a face-to-face traveling, starting with MOTO followed by AUTO and re-starting of the turn after all of them ran through the course.

Although unprecedented course setting, in fact that was not made with the intention from the beginning. Due to the large amount of rain in Cambodia just before the AXCR, is caused villainy of the course situation. Therefore it is impossible for them to run at several places where have been removed. So distance of SS is resulted in short and it had been set hastily in such form.

But I was surprised that riders one after another reported, "It was fun!" The higher the altitude gets, the better view from the course it gets. They could enjoy the superb view while fighting by overlooking the Gulf of Thailand in the distance in addition to the landscape of Cambodia that virgin forest remains. In addition, the road surface, such as the bedrock of tight red clay has better grip, and it did not have muddy condition that has been plagued in some places up to yesterday. Although the up-and-down was tough, as riders welcomed the section where they could comfortably run at high pace by saying “This reverse run is also fun!”

However it was fast-paced, therefore it would cause an accident off guard and would bear a greater damage than usual to the machine and the body. Grooves engraved vertically and horizontally which were made in the road surface when water flows need to be alerted. The impact of occasional squall could not be ignored.

In fact, there were two accidents in the MOTO. The one was♯30, Ryohei KOIKE who were blown away from the course due to the sudden squall which blinded his sight and who had sprained right ankle. The other one was ♯18, Kazuyoshi TAKAHASHI. The rear tire was caught in the middle of a deep crevasse when going down and it was too late when he realized that he had been slammed to the ground. Fortunately, KOIKE escaped from the course on his own, although TAKAHASHI could not finish the race because the left side of the handle was broken but its repair was completed on the same day, also he was able to race from the next day. Fortunately, although the body did not get the big injury, the jumpsuit was torn and it says how hard the impact of his fall was.

Meanwhile, #38 Takuya IZUMOTOhit the top time in the MOTO. Although ♯1 Yoshio IKEMACHI was the fastest in the SS3 forward path, Izumoto redeemed the time difference in SS4 return path. He won today's top prize by reversing ILEMACHI with round-trip integration time. It should be noted that FURUKAWA BATTERY honored up to third place at today’s dinner time in the SS total time and prize money was presented.

FURUKAWA BATTERY AWARD (MOTO)
#38 Takuya IZUMOTO (Japan)
#1 Yoshio IKEMACHI (Japan)
#11 Sumaetee Trakulchai (Thailand)

1st ♯101 Nuttapon ANGRITTHANON / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (Isuzu D-MAX)

Although ♯119 Bandit PANTHITA / Phairote PONGSAPAN pair in AUTO division (Thailand Isuzu D-MAX) has conquered the forward path, champions of AXCR, ♯101 Nuttapon ANGRITTHANON / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (Isuzu D-MAX) has been running comprehensive top in the return path was awarded the top prize. Incidentally, all up to third place of AUTO were Isuzu D-MX of Thailand team and again this combination proved their strength in a high-speed section.

FURUKAWA BATTERY AWARD (AUTO)
1st #101 Nuttapon ANGRITTHANON / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (Thailand, Isuzu D-MAX)
2nd #119 Bandit PANTHITA / Phairote PONGSAPAN (Thailand, Isuzu D-MAX)
3rd #107 Paitoon THAMMASIRIKUL / Somkiat NOICHAD (Thailand, Isuzu D-MAX)

Comments of 2nd ♯119 Bandit PANTHITA / Phairote PONGSAPAN (Thailand Isuzu D-MAX).
It was the best today! My car had no problem and my navigator was also doing a perfect job. So in SS3 we were able to record the fastest time. But the front of the drive shaft has gone in the groove at around 40km in the return path. It has become a 2WD to FR. This made the time dropped. But I am happy with this result! Please check us back tomorrow!

Like MOTO, several AUTO were in trouble. For♯102 of Kenjiro SHINOZUKA / EJ CHIBA (Japan, Suzuki Jimny), their right front damper mount was torn on the first day, and was welded fell off again. For♯112 Takatsugu Aoki / Roslyn SHEN (Japan/Taiwan, Isuzu D-MAX), the damper of the rear suspension fell off one by one and they had been forced to travel without the damper of the rear suspension. In addition, ♯123 Shoji KATSUMATA / Masayuki FUKANO (Japan, Isuzu D-MAX) lost three-speed transmission gear suspected the metal fatigue and then the two-speed and 5-speed were also no longer can be used. They barely could finish with four-speed by switching low-range.

Again, the manifestation of the damage is different between the MOTO and AUTO. In MOTO, it also extends the damage to the rider not only the machine. In AUTO, the machine gives up because of the accumulated damage. However, since this much fatigue has accumulated in rugged machine, it is impossible not to accumulate fatigue in the riders’ body of the MOTO. It will be also said the same thing to the drivers of AUTO in any varying degrees.

The rally finished the first three days and from tomorrow. It finally rushes into the second half of the rally. It will continue to take further harsh pressure in humans also on the machine, but the only person who survived here it can arrive at the Angkor Wat of the finish. Tomorrow, it will be a way towards the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh.