Tuesday, August 13, CHUMPHON

On a high-speed winding road with continuous ups and downs Japan's Hanawa sets the top time in the four-wheel race

On the second day of competition, LEG2 was the longest route of the event at 550 km, with the two-wheelers leaving the town of Surat Thani at 5.45am and riding for approximately 220 km to the SS start point.

The SS scheduled for the day was 120 km long, but the first 36 km were cancelled and the contestants had to compete over 84 km.

The SS ended with a passage control (PC) at the 75 km point, where time was recorded for both motorcycles and cars. The vehicles then underwent minor maintenance at the service area immediately afterwards.

Timekeeping then resume at the 84km PC, with the SS ending in a flying finish at the 122km mark.

The first half of the route is a series of plantations and villages, with paved and concrete roads appearing in sections. There were some large palm and durian plantations along the way and a series of river crossings in the second half. However, the weather in southern Thailand has not had any significant rain in recent days and almost all river crossings were dry.

Overall, the course was a winding road with many ups and downs, but the surface was relatively good, with Hanawa's navigator Somemiya commenting that the course was ‘like a European WRC course’. The average speed was high and competitors accustomed to high-speed rallying in passenger cars would made their mark at the top.

Japanese drivers such as Ikuo Hanawa, who has been racing in desert races in North America and Katsuhiko Taguchi, two-time series champion in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) unsurprisingly finished with good times.

The road section after the SS was 230 km long, making it a tiring day not only for the competitors but also for the service crews.

If the day's competition were to be compared to Japan, it would be like driving from Tokyo to Shizuoka on a downhill road, then via 80 km of dirt mountain forest roads, and continuing on to Osaka. It must have been particularly hard on the two-wheeled racers, who were exposed to the hot wind in the heat of the day without air conditioning.

TASAKI takes first place in the two-wheeled category with his overwhelming speed!

After the chaotic "crazy stage" of SS1, the second day of two-wheelers saw a number of single-numbered riders at the top of the daily results.

In first place was Hiroshi TASAKI (Japan) #10 from Team JAPAN on Husqvarna FE350UAA42, who crossed the finish line in 2hr 40sec, well ahead of the second placed rider. TASAKI, who had been penalised with a 30-minute penalty on the first day, has now moved up to eighth place overall.

In second place was Shinichi YAMADA #3 of Team OTOKONAKI (Japan). He has also moved up to third place overall from sixth the previous day.

In third place in the daily standings was Yasubumi SUNAKAWA (Japan) #1 of Team OTOKONAKI, with a good time of 2hr 10min 13sec, moving up from second place on the previous day to the top overall position.

Muhammad Hazim MOHD HAYAZI of #16 KOVE Malaysia moved up to second place overall on the second day.

In the meantime, Daiki GOTO #17 of Team Super Cub JAPAN Yotsuba motor cycle finished 5th on the previous day despite his tiny 90cc engine displacement, finished 14th on the day, 1 hour and 40 minutes behind the leader. Overall, he was 10th out of 19 riders.

Initially, it was pointed out that he might not be able to meet the target time for the stage, especially in SS2 which had a long distance of nearly 550km. Luckily the time limit to the hotel was removed when the second half of the SS was cancelled which provided a great tailwind for GOTO.

Avenging last year's disappointment, Hanawa in great form in the early stages of the race

In the four-wheeled category, YOKOHAMA awards were set for the top five teams on the day.

The #112 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM of Suwat LIMJIRAPINYA (Thailand) and Prakob CHAOTHALE (Thailand) in the Isuzu D-MAX was fifth overall, up from eighth place yesterday.

Suwat usually shows great speed in the early stages of the rally, but the question is whether he can maintain this speed and lead his car to the finish line on the final day.

However, this year's Isuzu Span teams have drastically different vehicle specifications from previous years. In the past, they had conventional suspension, but this year, like the Toyota and Mitsubishi teams, they are armed with long-stroke springs and dampers. How will this affect the second half of the rally will be something to keep our eyes on.

In 4th position was the Toyota Hilux of Seri SROIPHLOI (Thailand) and Noppasit SOMMANA (Thailand) #142 Weedboom Rayong by Gazzy4x4. They jumped up the overall standings significantly on the second day, from 37th starting position on day one to 22nd, followed by 15th.

The third fastest time of the day was the Mitsubishi Triton of Katsuhiko TAGUCHI (Japan) and Takahiro YASUI (Japan) from #107 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, which was 7th fastest in SS1, but on this high-speed rally day, the team took the modified Triton to it’s fullest and set a good time of 1hr 24min 52sec. He came in at the finish line with a good time of 1hr 24min 52sec.

His overall ranking also jumped from 7th to 4th place. Not to be overshadowed by Taguchi's speed, YASUI's ability to navigate the difficult course accurately was quite impressive.

In second position was the Isuzu D-MAX of Thongchai KLINKATE (Thailand) and Banpoth AMPORNMAHA (Thailand) in the # 106 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM.

They had a consistent performance and were 2nd in both SS1 and SS2, and 2nd overall.

The D-MAX is clearly smaller and lighter than the larger Hilux, and perhaps even lighter than the Triton. Thus, on winding roads with much elevation it’s nimbleness can be viewed by spectators on the side of the track. The Isuzu is faster than expected this year and they will be two cars to watch out for in the midfield races.

The pair of Ikuo HANAWA (Japan) and Hirokazu SOMEMIYA (Japan) in #115 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA set the top time in the daily race and took the YOKOHAMA Award's top prize. The tyres were Yokohama Rubber's Geolandar M/T G003, a key product that HANAWA was actually involved in the development of.

Upon accepting his award Hanawa who is over 60 years old and still at the forefront of the race receiving a large applause. His fellow competitotrs were the only ones who could see how truly amazing of a driver he is to be able to complete the stage in 1h21m36s.

As a result, HANAWA stands at the top of the 46-vehicle field overall. However, the gap to the second-placed Isuzu D-MAX is a mere 63 seconds. Tomorrow, the two rivals will be in a serious battle from the beginning of the race.

In addition, "Champion" Natthaphon ANGRITTHANON (THAILAND), who has stood at the top countless times in the AXCR in the past, is at back in the field with his #114 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND Toyota Hilux due to mechanical trouble in SS1, he was not satisfied with his performance in SS2.

Also, the Toyota Fortuner of Tubagus Adhi MOERINSYAHDI (INDONESIA) and Jatuporn BURAKITPACHAI (THAILAND) from #102 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA, which finished 2nd overall last year, broke an oil cooler in the early stages of SS1 and was unable to complete SS2.

Like Natthaphon, they were penalised with a time of 16 hours and 30 minutes overall, which was a huge setback.

The repairs for both vehicles are now in the final stages and I believe they will be able to challenge the SS tomorrow. We will be keeping a close eye on their progress from the middle of the race onwards.

Tomorrow, on Day 3, a 168km SS will be held in the area south-west of The Regent Cha-am Resort, the luxury resort hotel where the Rally HQ has been set up. What kind of drama will happen in this SS, the longest of the three days? Stay tuned for tomorrow's report.

(Photos by Manabu TAKAHASHI and Naoki YOSHIZAWA, Text by Dai KAWAMURA)