Team Mitsubishi Ralliart takes home the AXCR 2022 win in their Triton in Group T1.
The factory-supported Team Mitsubishi Ralliart has taken home the gold medal at the Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR) 2022. This event has been on hold for the past three years. This year’s event covered a distance of 1,524km from Buriram, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It ran from the 21st of November 2022 until the 26th.
Team Mitsubishi Ralliart fielded two Mitsubishi Triton pick-up trucks. Their trucks came in first and fifth overall with Thai national Chayapon Yotha bringing home gold and Indonesian Rifat Sungkar coming in fifth. Here’s the race report with more.
Race Report
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (hereafter, Mitsubishi Motors) announced that Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, which receives technical support from Mitsubishi Motors, participated in the Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR) 2022 that ran from November 21st to 26th in Thailand and Cambodia with Triton rally cars (Group T1 prototype cross-country vehicles). Over a total distance of 1,524 kilometers (km), including 637 km of timed special stages (SS), driver Chayapon Yotha (Thailand) finished in first place overall, with a total time of 8 hours, 22 minutes and 42 seconds, and driver Rifat Sungkar (Indonesia) finished in fifth position, with 17 minutes and 14 seconds behind the leader
After a three-year absence, the AXCR got under way on the 21st in Buriram in the northeastern part of Thailand, where the first SS of the rally and a ceremonial start were held. Leg 1 on the 22nd to Leg 3 on the 24th included SS located in the area around Buriram. Leg 4 on the 25th saw the rally cross the border into Cambodia after finishing the SS around Buriram, while Leg 5 on the 26th ended at the spectacular ceremonial goal near Angkor Wat, the famed tourist attraction in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The first half of the rally in Thailand consisted mainly of high-speed stages on rough, dry unpaved roads, while the second half was more challenging with large, deep puddles scattered on muddy roads caused by heavy rain, and a tougher course compared to the previous five stages awaited the participants in Cambodia.
Chayapon Yotha, driving the car #105 Triton, finished fifth in SS1 on the first day. On the second day, he set the fastest time in SS2, the longest SS of this year’s AXCR with a 203 km course, and climbed to the top overall position. After that, the powerful driving performance and nimble handling of the Triton helped him to finish SS3 in seventh, SS4 in sixth, SS5 in fifth, and SS6 in fifth, and he maintained the lead he had established in SS2 to take the overall win.
Rifat Sungkar in car #118 finished SS1 in sixth place following his teammate. He was aiming for higher positions, but after suffering a flat tire and subsequent damages to the chassis in SS2, he dropped to eighth position. The team’s repair work allowed him to continue the rally the next day, and he finished fourth in SS3, fifth in SS4, fourth in SS5, and seventh in SS6, completing the rally in fifth overall while proving the toughness of the Triton.
Sakchai Hantrakul in car #119 tested positive for Covid-19 after SS1 and unfortunately had to retire the rally.
AXCR 2022 Auto Category Overall Results
1st Chayapon Yotha (Mitsubishi Triton) 8:22:42
2nd Jaras Jaengkamolkulchai (Toyota Hilux Revo) 8:28:29
3rd Ikuo Hanawa (Toyota Fortuner) 8:28:34
4th Takuma Aoki (Toyota Fortuner) 8:38:26
5th Rifat Sungkar (Mitsubishi Triton) 8:39:56
6th Tawee Neanna (Isuzu D-Max) 8:51:24
