LEG 5_Race Report | Asia Cross Country Rally 2024

Friday, August 16, KANCHANABURI

Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART's Chayapon Stops, Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand's Mana is on the verge of his first victory!

On this day, the SS was the longest of this year's rally. It was approximately 230 km long and boasted a maximum time of 6 hours.

However, the first 50km of the SS was exactly the same as the course used in SS4 and the exact panel map was also used. The course was as dry and there were no notable difficulties, including river crossings, so at first glance it appeared to be a gentle course for the racers.

However, the organisers intentions for the course make-up were clear to see - Distance was the key factor of the.

As the race entered its final stages, both drivers and machines were fatigued and the main objective of the organizers was to test the competitors and their vehicles over long distances unreachable by the service staff.

Of course, on this day too, the service was available at the halfway point of the SS however, the actual service time was limited to 15 minutes, and the work that could be done during that time was very limited, including tyre changes, checking the torque of the wheel nuts, refuelling, and wiping down the front window and light surroundings.

With 230 km to cover, it was possible to quickly close the gap that had opened up between them and their rivals. As the SS on the final day is usually short, this is the final test for both the defenders and the attackers.

How fast and accurate can they drive through this long SS, without making any course mistakes and without any problems? The 230km race began with not a second to spare.

MATSUMOTO crosses the finish line far ahead of second place!

The fifth day of the motorcycle race continued to be a battle for the top position between Japan's Team OTOKONAKI. Norihisa MATSUMOTO (#2), who started the day in 2nd position on his KTM 250EXC-TPI. He crossed the finish line in 5 hours, 5 minutes, and 12 seconds which was significantly ahead of the 2nd position rider. He had a 4-minute lead over #3 Shinichi YAMADA, who took the overall lead yesterday, but was able to turn it around and took a 44-minute lead to win the race.

Husqvarna FE450 rider #3, Shinichi YAMADA, was second fastest with a time of 5 hours, 56 minutes, and 24 seconds. Although he finished 2nd overall, he is still hoping for a comeback on the final day.

The third place in the daily standings went to Rudy POA (Indonesia) of the Indonesia Cross Country Rally Team, driving #11 KTM 350 EXCF. He maintained his 4th place in the overall standings from the previous day.

In fourth place was Takuya ONO of the #7 Orange Factory/Berik, the most energetic of the AXCR motorcyclists. On this day, the AXCR sponsor PROPAK presented an award to one of the top five motorcyclists of the day, and Ono was all smiles on stage as he said, “This is the first time I have won an award since I started competing in this event. Ono jumped up from 14th to 8th place in the overall standings.

In 5th place was Habib FADHLURROHMAN (Indonesia) of the #9 PASAMAN SATU RALLY TEAM on a Honda CRF250 RALLY, followed by Go KATSUMATA of #6 Team JAPAN on a Husqvarna FE350 in 6th place. To the surprise of all, Daiki GOTO came in 7th place on a Honda Super Cub 90.

GOTO said, “The human is fine, but the main frame of the Super Cub is starting to bend, so I'm trying to drive as slowly as possible over bumps and holes. I hope we can manage to keep it up to the finish line”.

Shocking Engine Trouble and Surprising Team Orders

At 230kms, this is the longest SS of this year's competition. The four-wheeled category saw a major upset at the very end of the SS. The Mitsubishi Triton of #103 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART's Chayapon YOTHA (Thailand) and Peerapong SOMBUTWONG (Thailand), which had been running in the lead until suffered engine trouble and stopped 2km before the finish line due to engine trouble.

Chayapon had been been previously leading the race with a by a huge margin of 19 minutes over second place and he seemed to have his second victory almost in his grasp. For this reason, the shock to team members and fans was devastating.

In the end, Chayapon was unable to finish the race on his own, and although the Mitsubishi Triton of #137 Kazuto Koide, who was running in a support role, towed him to the goal, he was given a 3-hour penalty, which dropped him far back in the race and out of contention to win the event. The overall result was 20th, approximately 4 hours and 25 minutes behind the leader.

With this result, the Toyota Hilux of Mana PORNSIRICHERD (Thailand) and Kittisak KLINCHAN (Thailand) of #105 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND jumped to the top overall position.

After taking the lead on the first day, Mana made a rather large course error on the second day, falling about 23 minutes behind the leader, but he was in third place on the third day and in the lead on the fourth day. He was always giving his all and never giving up and the results of his perseverance paid off on the fifth day.

On this day, another unbelievable thing happened within the TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND team.

In this day's SS, #114 Natthaphon of the same team was running at the top of the pack, but about 50km before the goal, he suddenly stopped and waited for Mana, who was running behind him, to pass him before reaching the goal.

This was actually a team order given to Natthaphon by TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND to ensure that Mana, who is running in second place overall could finish the race ahead.

Although Natthaphon was already out of championship contention from receiving a 7-hour penalty on the first day, he is a proud legend with the most wins in the AXCR.

Natthaphon followed the team order and showed how much TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND wanted a victory and that they wouldn’t give up until the very end.

It’s now TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND’s 8th year and 7th entry in the series but they have yet to sample the sweet taste of victory. Will their persistence bear fruit in tomorrow's LEG6? In this Asia Cross Country Rally no results are guaranteed and we’ll have to wait and see.

Now, let's take a look at the overall standings, starting with 2nd place, which went to #112 ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUI MOLY RALLY TEAM's Suwat LIMJIRAPINYA (Thailand) and Prakob CHAOTHALE (Thailand) in the Isuzu D-MAX.

In previous years Suwat had been fast over single stages but was inconsistent over the entire course of the rally. This year it seems he has grown as a driver and consistently been ranked at the top of the overall results.

Third place was also taken by the Isuzu SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUID MOLY RALLY TEAM, #106 Thongchai KLINKATE (Thailand) and Banpoth AMPORNMAHA (Thailand) in the Isuzu D-MAX which is completed in the T2A-D class for unmodified production vehicles. They have been consistently in the top positions in this years competition.

In 4th place was #115 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA's Ikuo HANAWA and Hirokazu SOMEMIYA's Toyota Fortuner, which started 21st on the day due to problems on day 4, but overtook the car in front to take 3rd place on the day and jumped from 7th to 4th place overall. He also jumped up from 7th to 4th overall.

In 5th place was the Mitsubishi Triton of #107 Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART, piloted by Katsuhiko TAGUCHI and Takahiro YASUI. Although it will be somewhat difficult to make up the 1-hour gap from the leader in tomorrow's short SS, they are in front of Mitsubishi RALLIART team, which is aiming for its third year of victory.

In 6th place overall was the Isuzu D-MAX of Olan SORNSIRIRAT (Thailand) and Somkiat NOYCHAT (Thailand) in the #124 Mamba racing shock, which also did well in the T2A-D class.

Last year's champions, the #101 TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA team of Takuma Aoki/Ittipon SIMARAKS (Thailand) and Songwut DANPHIPHATTRAKOON (Thailand) are currently ranked 7th overall. From this position, they are eyeing the T2A-D class championship with an hawk eyes.

At the dinner, PROPAK, the sponsor of the event, presented awards to the top five finishers: Mana (1st place), Natthaphon (2nd place), HANAWA (3rd place), Suwat (4th place), and Thongchai (5th place).

Tomorrow is the final day of the 2024 Asia Cross Country Rally.

Will TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND be able to achieve its long-sought after first victory? Or will the ISUZU SUPHAN EXPLORER LIQUID MOLY RALLY TEAM make another surge to the top? Perhaps TOYOTA GAZOO RACING INDONESIA be able to bask in the glow of victory for the second year in a row? The outcome of the race will not be known until the very end.

Please look forward to tomorrow's report!

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

Tyre wars in 2024

Let's now turn our focus to four-wheel tyres. The tyre wars were fierce again this year, with the Yokohama GEOLANDAR tyre being the most commonly fitted tyre with 19 out of 46 entries equating to 41% of the field. It was particularly impressive that almost all of Team Mitsubishi RALLIART's cars were fitted with GEOLANDAR tyres, from the four Tritons entered in the event to the service cars Delica D:5, Outlander and Delica Mini. The next three brands, GRANDTREK by Sumitomo Rubber Industries (DUNLOP), OPEN COUNTRY by TOYO TIRE and BFGoodrich by Michelin, were fitted on six cars (13%). Of interest was the DUNLOP tyre, which TOYOTA GAZOO RACING THAILAND's Mana and his teammates had been testing since last year on a prototype (AXCR special) that is not commercially available. This year, they have changed to a stronger and more durable tyre. If Mana continues to win, it may give momentum to the commercialisation and production of the tyre. The next highest number of entries came from China's WEST LAKE, followed by Malaysia's ARIVIV. Other brands confirmed included Malaysia's ARIVO, Japan's BRIDGESTONE, Indonesia's DELIUM, South Korea's KUMUHO and Taiwan's MAXXIS.

A one of a kind rally machine built by students.

The #136 Asian Rally team's Suzuki Jimny Sierra was built by students from the CHUOH TECHNICAL SCHOOL (CTS) in Japan. Project leader Hidenori KOTANI, who leads the students, told us: ‘First of all, the students were given freedom to design the car as they liked with special attention paid to ensure the car could be driven in tough competition. At the competition site, they could get feedback on whether the part they were in charge of worked well or broke as well as how to repair it with the limited time, tools and parts they had available. I think this is very important for them, as they are the future of the car society. Three students were selected from the nearly 20 students who were involved in the actual modification/manufacturing of the Jimny, and they lead the students in daily maintenance as servicing.

The original Jimny was separated from the frame and body and stretched by 30 cm in order to improve straight-line stability. The rear seats were removed, the cabin was shortened and the vehicle was made into a roofless pick-up style to reduce weight and facilitate tyre changes during the rally.

The vehicle attracted a lot of attention given it was driven by Taiwanese actress Roslyn SHEN (Taiwan) and Co-driver Nada SIMARAKS (17yo/Thailand) who is the youngest driver in this year's rally.