REPORT
Asia Cross Country Rally 2024 Kicks Off
Four MITSUBISHI TRITONs start off to cheering crowds
The Asia Cross Country Rally 2024 (AXCR) started on Sunday 11 August in Surat Thani in southern Thailand. Today’s ceremonial start was held from a gate which was set up in a bustling area along the Tapi River with each rally car introduced one by one. The four MITSUBISHI TRITONs started the rally amid much cheering for the competition that would begin the next day.
After the shakedown test on Tuesday the 6th, Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART moved its base to Surat Thani and carried out vehicle servicing. In the evenings, under a typical Southeast Asian climate which is hit with daily squalls, the team steadily progressed with preparations for the rally.
At 8:00am in the morning on Sunday the 11th, under clear skies, official Scrutineering began in a square adjacent to the hotel that will serve as the rally base. Competition vehicles, including the TRITONs, arrived one after another at the Scrutineering site. Here, checks were carried out on the extent of modifications and safety equipment for each vehicle. Following last year, the TRITONs will compete in Class T1 for modified cross-country cars. All four of the TRITONs on Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART successfully passed the official Scrutineering, and preparations for the ceremonial start at night were complete.
After the afternoon participant briefing at around 5:00pm, a total of 67 vehicles, including 46 four-wheel vehicles, 19 motorcycles, and two sidecars, departed the hotel under police escort towards the event venue in the clock tower square. The centre of the Surat Thani area was very lively with a colourful array of competition vehicles. And at 8.00 pm, the motorcycle categories were the first to start. The four TRITONs led by Chayapon Yotha (Thailand) / Peerapong Sombutwong (Thailand) in Car 103 and followed by Katsuhiko Taguchi (Japan) / Takahiro Yasui (Japan) in Car 107, Sakchai Hantrakul (Thailand) / Jumpol Doungthip (Thailand) in Car 130, and Kazuto Koide (Japan) / Eiji Chiba (Japan) in Car 137, departed in order of car number and drove through the night city.
Selective Section (SS) 1, the stage for the first day on the 12th August, was originally a 162.54 km route set in an area approximately 100km south of the city of Surat Thani, but due to damage to roads caused by the rain, the distance has been shortened with the start being changed to a 36.16km point in the SS.
Comment from Hiroshi Masuoka, Team Director of Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART
“Everything is ready, and now we are just waiting for the start. When the competition vehicles were finalised, we conducted a shakedown test, and all four vehicles were perfect. Of course, the goal is to win the rally and reclaim the crown. You have squalls here almost every night. We’ve been preparing for the possibility of a very muddy course. Even so, in the worst case, it’s possible to get stuck on slippery surfaces such as mud or in rivers. We held many meetings to carefully consider various patterns of how the four cars of our team will move if anything like that happens. In addition, Koide, who will participate as quick support, has mechanical knowledge as well as driving skills, so the other drivers should be able to drive with some peace of mind. My wish is for the drivers to feel comfortable and give it 100%. Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART is here, and we are determined to do our best with the new Triton. We’d appreciate your support.”
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