Battle of Isuzu VS Toyota

The competition entered the middle course. By the second day, the Rally had stepped into the northern part of Thailand, but what was most worrying about this day was the effect of the rain fell the night before.

Also, the course layout is set to connect small jungles and jungles, and in the open area where trees are sparse, there are many branches, so navigation is very difficult, and it is easy to make a time difference due to a slight mistake.

At the previous night's briefing, the course director called out that it was expected to be a tough race, “It is difficult to run without hesitation. I would like you to focus more than usual.”

However, there was rather little rainfall locally, but the competition section did not become a bad mud surface although the road was damp. Rather, it was a dust-free section, making it easier to overtake and making the section easier to run overall. In addition, navigation was not as difficult as in the Year 2015 Rally, and a relatively high-speed course was held like the first round.

MOTO class

After interviewing several participants, “it was a very nervous route setting for those who are not used to navigation". However, there was a comment that “There were a lot of branches and it was a game,” and there were players who enjoyed the difficulties.

In fact, there are some points where it is easy to get lost. Especially, at the point where the fence is a landmark, the top view is correct, but the actual scenery is different, and there is a big difference in time depending on whether the participant could notice these differences.

So what skills are necessary to run such a course? When asked an experienced player, "Proceeding with high pace for places where you can speed up, and when you should slow down, those who can drop the pace firmly and check the current position can smoothly advance." In addition, the high level of observation power, such as whether the participant could notice the difference between the top view and the actual route, could be a big turning point.

In any case, the majority expressed opinions that the road surface and navigation are not as difficult as they were communicated in advance, and that they are generally “fun”. On the other hand, the number of injured people started to increase gradually because of fatigue, and it was confirmed that there were 3 fractured clavicle fractures, 2 of whom were Japanese.

In terms of daily time, # 3 Jakkrit CHAWTALE player KTM 450 EXC-F tops 3 hours 7 minutes 58 seconds. # 6 Tadao Ezure (FB International) Yamaha YZ450FX is 5 minutes behind which is the 2nd, 3rd place is #5 Tomomasa KIMURA of “PlanBee Racing Team with takuma-gp”, and the 4th is Yoshio Ikemachi (FB International).

Tadao Ezure expressed, “I was running with # 3 Jakkrit CHAWTALE and # 21 David ROPER at the beginning. There was a difficult point in the journey which we managed to leave David behind and reached the goal together with Jakkrit. This time it was a success because we tried to trace the map although we slowed down, and we try to prioritize not to make mistakes. "

As a result, in the overall time, only Jakkrit CHAWTALE and Tadao Ezure lead, separating the third place below for nearly an hour, and the fight for victory was almost limited to these two.

SIDECAR class

Motocross-type # 66 Masato Watanabe / Masahiro Ozeki had an engine problem in the liaison section after the SS goal on the first day, but the engine was not successfully repaired after they tried throughout the second day, but the morning of the third day the engine returned normal miraculously. Although they rushed to the SS and entered the course, the driver's collarbone broke due to a fall, and unfortunately the fourth day crossing Myanmar became difficult.

The # 67 Tetsuo Iwamoto / Shikoh Tomimoto group, which runs Russian Urals remains strong, with expectations to cross the Myanmar country border by sidecar.

AUTO class

The # 105 Mana PORNSIRICHERD / Kittisak KLINCHANTRD team of the TOYOTA CROSS COUNTRY TEAM THAILAND team, the TRD Hilux, recorded the top time of the day although they are not the champion.

When I talked to Mr. Kashimura who teams up the team on the spot, “There were no major problems and there were almost no mistake courses. The pace is as usual. The roads are narrow but speed up on the flat ones. The gap with the champion is filled by about two minutes, but I hope that it can be closer,” he said.

Second place is Isuzu D-MAX of Suwat LIMJIRAPINYA / Prakai NAMJAITHAHAN team of Isuzu Suphan Sport team which is showing stable speed this time. The third place was D-MAX from champion # 1 Natthaphon ANGRITTHANON / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (The Land Transport Association of Thailand-Isuzu).

In fact, even if you look at the overall ranking up to the third day, up to the top six cars are filled with only the machines of these three teams.

・TOYOTA CROSS COUNTRY TEAM THAILAND (Toyota Hilux)
・Isuzu Suphan Sport (Isuzu D-MAX)
・The Land Transport Association of Thailand-Isuzu (Isuzu D-MAX)

Same as last year, Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-MAX are fighting fiercely, competing to be the top. This composition lasts to top 10th overall, but only Toyota Fortuner and Isuzu Mu-X derived from the pickup is added. It is a power map of four Toyotas versus six Isuzus.

Immediately after that, the Land Cruiser 80, which has been ranked 11th overall, appeared for more than a quarter century. Team Myanmar's # 134 Nay Win HLAING / Thu Rein WIN car that entered the race from this year was running at a very fast speed as actually seen in the SS.