Sunday, August 11, Surat Thani

An enthusiastic ceremonial start held under the famous Surat Thani clock tower.

The Asian Cross Country Rally (AXCR), is an international rally officially recognized by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It kicked off in Surat Thani, the capital of Thailand's southern province.

A total of 67 rally vehicles left the Diamond Plaza Hotel before sunset. Led by police vehicles, 19 two-wheelers, 2 sidecars, and 46 four-wheelers formed a long convoy and set off for the clock tower on the banks of the Ta Pi River.

The ceremonial start opened at 19:30 and the area around the clock tower was crowded with locals and tourists as last year's champion Takuma Aoki of Japan donated a wheelchair to a Surat Thani hospital. The crowd were also treated to a ceremonial Muay Thai showcase with the "Wai Kru" being performed to a captive crowd.

When the motorbike competitors lined up on the starting grid, they were greeted with loud applause, and one by one, the riders took off cheered on by the crowd.

The cheers were louder with the top auto teams started the race. The drivers and co-drivers shook hands on top of their cars, and were then joined by the team managers, service crews and families. The teams let out loud motivating shouts and the crowd responded to their enthusiasm with loud cheering.

This year's competition runs from August 11 to 17. Including the ceremonial start, the competition will last for seven days. The first day is a loop course on a rough road in the suburbs of Surat Thani, and on the second day, the contestants will travel north to the seaside resort of Hua Hin, where the royal summer palace is located. The fifth and sixth days of competition will be fought on different loop courses, finishing directly in the city of Kanchanaburi.

The total length of the course is approximately 2,077 km, of which approximately 1,136 km are road sections (liaisons) where contestants travel on public roads within a set time, and approximately 941 km are special stages where contestants compete for speed by being timed.

A diverse group of nationalities, countries, and vehicles.

This year's AXCR consists of 67 competition cars. When we include the service cars, service trucks, and media cars, the total number of cars was over 230 unit, with a total of nearly 600 entrants. Entrants came from 10 different countries, including India, Indonesia, Australia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Pickup trucks, which are popular in off-road racing in Thailand, dominated the four-wheel field, with 13 Toyota Hiluxes, 12 Isuzu D-Maxes, 5 Mitsubishi Tritons, 2 Ford Raptors, and 2 Toyota Tacomas, making up three quarters of all rally machines. In addition, 3 Toyota Fortuner, 4 different Toyota Land Cruiser models participated in the rally: 80 Series, 150 Series Prado, 200 Series, and 300 Series, and 3 Suzuki Jimny’s were also entered in the rally.

By class, the T1D (diesel) class, a modified cross-country vehicle that has competed for the overall championship every year, has the most entries with 27, followed by the T1G (gasoline) class with 9, T2A (diesel) with 8, and the T2D class with 1 mass production cross-country vehicle. Ho-Huang Chen, a regular competitor from Taiwan has built and entered his first EV vehicle (T1E) in the AXCR rally.

The Toyota Land Cruiser 80 of Kyushudanji Team Japan is the oldest car in the rally and has been in production for 30 years, but it is still highly accomplished. Hachimaru fans can look forward to its success.

A Three-way battle between Isuzu, Toyota, and Mitsubishi

Takuma AOKI of TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA, who won the overall championship in the T1D class last year, will be competing again this year in the same Toyota Fortuner, but in the T2A class, aiming for a second consecutive victory in a model closer to a production car. Tubagus Adhi MOERINSYAHDI, who finished second overall last year, will continue to compete in T1D.

Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, which made its debut win in 2022, finished 3rd overall in last year's rally with the new Triton, but this year the team has increased its fleet by one more vehicle to four. The tread was widened by 90mm, a competition-specific sequential transmission (manual shift) was adopted and the rear suspension was changed from leaf springs to 4-link coil springs to improve road-following performance. The hood, fenders, and cargo bed are made of CFRP to reduce weight and have came all out to take the overall victory.

TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND are aiming for their long sought after first win. They have entered three Hilux Revos in their team. The rear suspension was modified with 4 links and coil springs but the transmission has remained the same as in the production version. The company is confident in its automatic transmission technology cultivated through its longtime participation in the AXCR. This RnD from the Rally meant that they have implemented the technology in the GR model of the Hilux Revo which has been in production since the end of last year. The company hopes to "expand user convenience and the front door to motorsports.

The Mitsubishi team will do everything in its power to regain the overall championship, while the Toyota team will aim to win its first championship without in order to expand the scope of motorsports. There are 4 other semi-works teams, Takuma AOKI's Fortuner and ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM's D-MAX. They will all be looking for the win with their eyes glued to the gap between the works teams. This year again, the battle between Japanese pickups and SUV's manufactured in Thailand will be one to keep an eye on.

Stay tuned for our report on the first day of the AXCR!

(Photo: Manabu TAKAHASHI, Text: Dai KAWAMURA)