Wednesday, August 14, PRACHUAB KHIRIKHAN

After three days of the first half of the season, SUNAKAWA holds on to the overall lead in the two-wheeled category. HANAWA maintained his overall lead in four-wheelers.

The third day was a loop course, starting from a resort hotel in Cha-am and returning to the same hotel again.

The AXCR is a essentially a competition where everyone involved competes together all the way to the finish line, moving every day, changing accommodation and sometimes crossing borders. Whhen there is a day like this where the accommodation remains the same, it is a day for the service teams to pick up the pace a little as there is no need to pack up, check out of hotels and load heavy suitcases into cars and most importantly there is no need to take down and set up tents as a base for service.

This is a small ‘bonus’ and welcome relief for the service staff, who drive the same distances as the competition vehicles during the day whilst repeatedly setting up maintenance and service areas after time control and after the finish line.

Today's SS was approximately 170 km, while the RS was approximately 190 km. With the travel section being much shorter than yesterday the competition section was longer. The course conditions were good according to preliminary information and on the third day, the entire route of the SS could be utilised.

The first half of the route was an open area with pineapple and mango plantations and irrigation canals, while the second half of the route took the contestants into the mountains. In the afternoon, the road surface became slippery due to the downpour of rain but with almost all four-wheeled teams using mud tyres, there were no delays and few time penalties were handed out. However, many of the two-wheelers continued to run for close to or beyond the SS maximum time of five hours, and it appears that their stamina has been zapped considerably after the first half of the race.

Team OTOKONAKI's three Japanese riders dominate the top positions

In the evening after the motorcycle event, there was an award ceremony sponsored by WELPORT. The prize money was given to the riders ranked 1st to 5th daily, and Yuichi IIJIMA of WELPORT handed over the award to each rider on stage at dinner.

Daily 5th place went to Mufti Muis KARIM of the #5 PASAMAN SATU RALLY TEAM, riding his Honda CRF250 RALLY to the finish line in 3hr 40min 46sec, moving up from 7th to 5th place overall.

In fourth place was Habib FADHLURROHMAN (Indonesia) #9 of the PASAMAN SATU RALLY TEAM, who finished the race in 3 hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds despite a five-minute penalty time on his Honda CRF250 RALLY. This moved him up from sixth to fourth in the overall standings.

The Japanese riders of Team OTOKONAKI swept the podium in third to first place on the day. And their competitor numbers were the order of the prizes for this event.

Third place went to #3 Team OTOKONAKI's Shinichi YAMADA (JPN) on a Husqvarna FE450. His overall ranking improved by one place from the previous day and he was in second place, about 28 minutes behind the leader.

In second place was Norihisa MATSUMOTO (JPN) on a KTM 250EXC-TPI. They too moved up in the overall standings to third place.

The daily leader is Yasubumi SUNAKAWA (Japan) of #1 Team OTOKONAKI, on his KTM EXC-F, with a good time of 3hr 17min 16sec to maintain his overall lead and extend his lead over YAMADA in 2nd place, giving him a big advantage heading into the second half of the race.

However, as the days go on, the distance of the SS will become even longer on days 4 and 5, so the results could still change.

In the sidecar class, where two vehicles competing, the #66 Rising Sun Racing pair of Masahito WATANABE (Japan) and Masahiro OZEKI (Japan) have completed the first half of the race without any serious injuries or mechanical problems, and are in 9th position compared to the motorcycle times, a rare achievement in recent years. We hope that they will continue to achieve the goal of completing all the SSs and RSs.

Yuichi IIJIMA, who stood on the stage to hand out the WELPORT Award, is a veteran four-wheeled racer who has competed in the AXCR on a regular basis in recent years, and is also competing in this year's event in a bright yellow and green Land Cruiser 300.

The Land Cruiser of yesteryear takes tenth place in the Daily 10!

There were several interesting topics on four wheels.

Firstly, the driving of Natthaphon, who has won many races, was restored. #114 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND pair of Natthaphon ANGRITTHANON (Thailand) and Thanyaphat MEENIL (Thailand) on their Toyota Hilux kicked into serious mode on day three, having recovered from the damage done on day one after repairs last night. With a time of 2 hrs 28 mins 44 secs, they were fourth fastest and they are now in contention again for the championship.

Their team mates also improved on this time and the Toyota Hilux of #105 Mana PORNSIRICHERD (Thailand) / Kittisak KLINCHAN (Thailand). The pair were in third place on the daily time sheets with 2hr 28min 05sec. This was the expected performance from the long-time TGR THAILAND leader.

Another topic of interest was the 10th place daily finish by Kinya MORIKAWA and Masahiko UCHIDA of #121 Kyushudanji Team Japan, who were challenging in a Land Cruiser 80 series. In 2011, MORIKAWA was in a close battle with Thai hero Vorapot, and in 2012 with up-and-coming driver Natthaphon, who finished in second place overall for two consecutive years.

MORIKAWA chose a Land Cruiser 80, which he was running in the AXCR at the time, as his partner when he returned to the sport after 10 years. Although the car is over 30 years old, the Kyushudanji Team Japan has overhauled everything from the engine to the transmission and has returned to the AXCR for a three-year programme since last year. The good old Land Cruiser made it into the Daily 10 for the first time in 11 years.

The sound of the straight-six engine is immediately recognisable, even on the track, echoing from a distance. Yesterday the car was struggling with the loss of third and fourth gear in the manual transmission, but MORIKAWA is a racer who manages to bring his car to the finish line, even when he has problems. We are hoping for this team to do well in the race and return to the top.

The top time on day 3 was set by the Toyota Fortuner team of Ikuo HANAWA (Japan) and Hirokazu SOMEMIYA (Japan) from #115 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA. With a time of 2hrs 26 mins 29 secs, this was the top prize for the second day in a row and kept them at the top of the overall standings. Drivers in their 60s are leading the first half of the race with a speed that is second to none to the younger drivers.

HANAWA's involvement with AXCR goes back 10 years. He was involved as a suspension technical advisor for the current TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND team when they entered a Toyota Hilux. At that time, Mr HANAWA, who is known as an off-road mechanical constructor, introduced to AXCR a suspension mechanism with a long suspension stroke, which was designed for American desert racing.

Until then, modifications to the AXCR's suspension had been limited to replacing and strengthening springs and dampers, but the breakthrough of the TRD vehicle Hanawa was involved with at this time saw the technology spread rapidly to cross-country rallies in South East Asia.

It is deeply moving to see the man responsible for popularising the use of this suspension systems, which are now commonplace among works teams, to the rest of Asia and the world, driving at the front of the AXCR. There can be no doubt that Somemiya's navigation skills are world class. Dakar legend Kenjiro Shinozuka said that AXCR navigation is ‘the most difficult in the world’.

The #103 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART's Chayapon YOTHA (Thailand) / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (Thailand) Mitsubishi Triton was next in second place daily, and the 2022 champion showed his true colours on day three by moving up to second place overall and managed to catch up with Hanawa, who was in front of him.

In third place on the daily schedule was the Toyota Hilux of Mana PORNSIRICHERD (Thailand) and Kittisak KLINCHAN (Thailand) in the #105 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND, which was top on day one. They also jumped up from 17th to 7th overall.

5th place went to #112 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM's Suwat LIMJIRAPINYA (Thailand) / Prakob CHAOTHALE (Thailand) in the Isuzu D-MAX, which showed a significant lead in the first half of the rally in 2022. He has been improving steadily.

In 6th place was #142 Weedboom Rayong by Gazzy4x4 of Seri SROIPHLOI (Thailand) / Noppasit SOMMANA (Thailand). In the first half of the SS they managed to overtake two of the works team trucks. overtook the two works trucks.

As a result, the overall standings for the first three days are as follows. The works Mitsubishi Triton locked on to the semi-works Toyota Fortuner. The semi-works Isuzu D-MAX and Toyota Hilux are also in contention.

1st place #115 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA, Ikuo HANAWA (JPN) / Hirokazu SOMEMIYA (JPN), TOYOTA Fortuner
2nd place #103 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, Chayapon YOTHA (THA) / Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (THA), MITSUBISHI Triton
3rd place #106 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM, Thongchai KLINKATE (THA) / Banpoth AMPORNMAHA (THA), ISUZU D-Max
4th place #112 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM, Suwat LIMJIRAPINYA (THA) / Prakob CHAOTHALE (THA), ISUZU D-Max
5th place #107 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, Katsuhiko TAGUCHI (JPN) / Takahiro YASUI (JPN), MITSUBISHI Triton
6th place #140 FAST FORWARD SPORT, Arunpong SRIRIT (THA) / Keerati NOIJARD (THA), TOYOTA Hilux Revo

In the AXCR, where navigation skills are a major determinant of victory or defeat, simply having a highly developed car is not enough to secure victory. In the second half of the race we move into a war of attrition. The works teams will have an advantage because of the depth of their field and their back-up systems, such as service and parts supply.

It will be interesting to see who will be the first to cross the finish line on Day 4.

(Photo: Manabu TAKAHASHI, Text: Dai KAWAMURA)