REPORT
As the rally hits the halfway point on the third day
Chayapon Yotha moves up to 2nd overall with his excellent time
LEG 3, the third day of competition in the Asia Cross Country Rally 2024 (AXCR) took place on Wednesday 14 August. At Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART Chayapon Yotha (Thailand) /Peerapong Sombutwong (Thailand) in No.103 TRITON put in a solid performance to post the excellent second fastest time in today’s Selective Section (SS) 3. They have also moved to 2nd overall to complete the first half of the rally in a perfect position for the second half.
Today’s SS3 has been the longest so far in this rally at 168.23km. After receiving a reduced service at the service area located after Passage Control (PC) at the 95.20km point, the rally cars drove the remaining 73.03km. For the first time in this year's event, the entire scheduled course was run. On the route there were also mountainous roads with many uphills and downhills, and there were sections where rocks appeared. All four TRITONs performed well in the first half of the day. At the halfway point, Yotha marked a good time to pull away from his rivals, and he managed to complete well in the second half as well to end the day at 2hrs 27min 56sec. This result moved Yotha up to 2nd overall with the gap to the leader by 7 minutes 8 seconds as he heads into the second half of the rally.
Katsuhiko Taguchi (Japan) / Takahiro Yasui (Japan) made several course errors, but in the second half of the section, which was hit by a squall, they showed a strong drive passing the car in front despite the slippery road surface to end the day in 5th overall. Although they dropped one position they got a positive feeling. Sakchai Hantrakul (Thailand) /Jumpol Doungthip (Thailand) were running at a higher pace than Taguchi in the first half of the route, but in the second half, they experienced an engine problem and backed off to finish. They were lagged behind in 16th place in the SS, but remained in 12th overall. Kazuto Koide (Japan) / Eiji Chiba (Japan) also continued to drive at a good pace, overtaking the car in front to move up the field before they completed the day. Koide posted 13th fastest SS time to take 24th place overall. As it was the middle point of the rally, the team inspected and replaced consumables such as brakes on all cars to take on the second half of the rally in perfect conditions.
On the fourth day of the competition on Thursday the 15th, LEG4/SS4 will be a 172.15km section set on the way from Hua Hin to Kanchanaburi. The main battleground in the early stages of the day will be the mountainous roads northwards near the border with neighbouring Myanmar. Navigation is likely to be the key to posting good times on the forest roads with ups and downs. In addition, various challenges such as slippery concrete surfaces and river crossings await the competitors. The SS with a distance of 172.15km will start at 5:45am, with the first starter in the MOTO class (motorcycles).
Comment from Chayapon Yotha, driver of Car No.103
“Today, everything went according to plan. The car was in good condition, and both the driver and co-driver were able to do their jobs perfectly. I think we were in harmony. In the afternoon section, it started raining heavily around 10km from the start, and I tried to drive carefully. Nevertheless, I was able to maintain my pace, and for the past three days, the car's performance has been perfect. From now on, it’ll be our mission to control this state. We’ve now reached the halfway point of the rally. We still have half left, and from here on, I want to work even harder towards victory.”
Comment from Hiroshi Masuoka, Team Director of Team MITSUBISHI RALLIART
“We’ve just finished the first half of the rally at the end of today. Sakchai (Hantrakul) was hit by a problem. It's a shame because he began to drive well and we were thinking of making a strategy as a team for the second half. Since Chayapon (Yotha) and Taguchi are doing well, we are thinking of having him (Hantrakul) support them from tomorrow. Chayapon wasn’t as far behind the leader as expected, so I hope he can switch his mindset and drive with full effort in the second half as well. In the second half, I think the rally will become increasingly tough, but I hope the team will carefully observe the situation and get through it with perfect teamwork. Clarifying roles and ensuring each person carries them out properly to lead the team to success - that’s our primary goal.”
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