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AXCR 2024: Team Mitsubishi Ralliart's Chayapong Stops, Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand's Mana of Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand is on the verge of his first victory!
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.
Source: Asia Cross Country Rally
(Photos by Manabu TAKAHASHI and Naoki YOSHIZAWA, Text by Dai KAWAMURA)
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