Mitsubishi Ralliart begins quest to repeat AXCR victory with all-new Triton

Mitsubishi Ralliart may have won last year's Asia Cross Country Rally (AXCR), but it looks like they are facing this year's competition with an even greater desire to dominate the rally.

This year's rally has just started in Thailand, but Dakar legend and Mitsubishi Ralliart team director Hiroshi Masuoka already said he wants nothing less than a repeat victory at AXCR. With a year of experience in the rally, he believes the team, along with its drivers, and especially the all-new Triton rally truck are better prepared for this year's competition.

“The base car of the new Triton rally car has been improved, and on top of that we've used the results from last year's rally to make them even faster, stronger, and more durable. We've confirmed that it's met our higher expectations through the shakedown test," said Masuoka.

In an interview with CarWatch, Masuoka added “We were able to win in 2022, but we are still the challengers. We will never take the stance of defending champions. We don't need second place. Even if two cars are crushed, we want our new model to stand at the top."

Team Mitsubishi Ralliart prepared the all-new Triton rally truck for the competition by putting it to two durability tests conducted in Japan and overseas, covering a total of roughly 2,000 km. They are entering this year's rally with a three-car entry. Defending champion Chayapon Yotha of Thailand and Rifat Sungkar from Indonesia are returning behind the wheel of the all-new Triton rally truck along with new Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi.

A tougher rally is expected by Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, as this year's AXCR is being held in August, which is a rainy month. This means the course will feature more muddy roads and deeper river crossings. Leg 1 of the competition has already started in Thailand today, August 14, while the end will be on August 19 near the World Heritage site of Prasat Wat Phu in Laos.