Toyota Fortuner wins 2023 Asia Cross Country Rally

While the talk of the town leading to the competition was about Mitsubishi and the debut of the all-new Triton rally truck, this year's Asia Cross Country Rally saw a very popular PPV come out victorious.

Toyota Gazoo Racing Indonesia claimed a 1-2 finish with their Fortuner rally SUVs. The #105 Fortuner of Takuma Aoki, Ittipon Simaraks and Songwut Danphiphattrankoon finished first with a total time of 11 hours, 46 minutes and 22 seconds while the #121 Fortuner driven by Tubagus Moerinsyahdi and Jatuporn Burakitpachai finished with a total time of 11 hours, 50 minutes and 50 seconds.

The intense heat made the conditions more difficult despite the fact that the rally was held in August, which is rainy season for Southeast Asia. But nevertheless, TGR Indonesia's duo fended off the challenge of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart and its trio of all-new Triton rally trucks.

After struggling in the early stages, 2022 winner Chayapon Yotha in the #101 Triton ended up in 3rd place overall. The #112 Triton of Japanese driver Katsuhiko Taguchi and Takahiro Yasui finished 8th while the #106 Triton of Rifat Sungkar finished in 32nd place.

Mitsubishi Ralliart came up short in their goal of claiming overall victory, but they were given the Team Award as all three Tritons finished the rally.

The Asia Cross Country Rally started in Thailand and ended in Laos, with competitors covering a total distance of 2,033 km over 7 days and six special stages.