Mitsubishi’s newly revived motorsport division, Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, emerged victorious in the recently held Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR) 2022. The feat was achieved the first time Team Mitsubishi Ralliart campaigned for the AXCR event.
Driver Chayapon Yotha finished in first place overall, with a total time of eight hours, 22 minutes, and 42 seconds. Fellow driver Rifat Sungkar, on the other hand, finished fifth place with 17 minutes and 14 seconds behind the leader.
The Thai driver in the #105 truck finished fifth in Special Stage (SS) 1 on day one. He, however, set the fastest time in SS2 the day after. He then maintained the lead he established in SS2 and finished seventh in SS3, sixth in SS4, fifth in SS5, and fifth again in SS6.
Meanwhile, his fellow Indonesian driver — who piloted truck #118 — managed to secure sixth place in SS1. He was aiming for higher positions, but after suffering a flat tire and subsequent damages to the chassis in SS2, he dropped to the 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.
Sakchai Hantrakul in car #119 tested positive for COVID-19 after SS1 and unfortunately had to retire from the rally.
“For this year’s AXCR, we built on the high reliability and durability of the Triton by tuning the engine and chassis and entered the rally with specifications relatively close to the production car. Even so, the two Triton rally cars delivered powerful driving, and I am very proud of our high finish. The superb performance came down to the drivers, who were able to extract the Triton's performance and show us some great drives, the engineers who worked every day to fine-tune the vehicles perfectly, all the staff who provided support, and the know-how that Mitsubishi Motors has accumulated over the years. Key to it all was the tremendous support from our sponsors and the passionate messages of support we received from fans around the world. We would like to feed the knowledge we gained through our participation in the AXCR back into the development of production vehicles, and build Mitsubishi vehicles that are even tougher, more powerful, and more reliable,” said Team Mitsubishi Ralliart Team Director Hiroshi Masuoka.
The AXCR 2022 ran from November 21 to 26, 2022, in Thailand and Cambodia. Team Mitsubishi Ralliart campaigned using Triton rally trucks (known in the Philippines as the Mitsubishi Strada). Participants braved a total distance of 1,524 kilometers (km), including 637km of timed SS.
Below are the final standings for AXCR 2022
Photos from Mitsubishi
Also read:
Mitsubishi PH to revive ‘Ralliart’ at 8th PIMS
Mitsubishi commences production, sales of all-new Outlander in China
Copyright © Carmudi 2014-2024. All Rights Reserved.
