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There is something thrilling about waiting for a rally car to pass. Your
ears strain to catch the distinctive throaty roar. Sometimes you make a
mistake and are disappointed when a motorbike swings into view. Other times
you see the rally car coming before you hear it – or rather you see an
approaching swirl of dust, inside of which is a car.
This year’s Autobacs Asia Cross Country Rally, the 10th of the Asia XC
series, took place in Thailand Aug 6-12.
Sanctioned by the FIA (Federation Internationale de Automobile) for the
first time, the seven-day event, organised by Ortev of Japan, covered some
3,400km, 1,000km of which took place on 10 SS (selective section) where the
cars were subjected to the rigours of the terrain.
A fleet of 44 cars representing Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, Korea and
Taiwan left the starting line in Bangkok. Including vehicles for the media,
service crew, sweepers and officials, the entire contingent numbered more
than 100 cars.
Each morning we got up at 5am, ate a large breakfast because we knew we
wouldn’t have time for lunch, and hit the road an hour later. Our first
destination was the historic city of Ayutthaya, then Mae Sot on the Myanmar
border, climbing mountains and braving the rain. After Mae Sot, we drove
past the largest refugee camp in Thailand.
At Mae Sariang, we took photos of a temple with Shan-styled chedis. The
area here is populated by hill tribes, and we saw many of them in their
bright clothes as we drove by at high speed. We were always in a hurry,
trying to keep ahead of the rally cars.
Mae Hong Son is a touristy place with lots of farang (foreigners). Here
everyone was allowed an hour’s worth of sightseeing; and we all went to see
a “long-necked village” outside Mae Hon Song. The women were quite obliging
and had their photos taken beside the colourful cars.
From Pai, we drove five hours to
Chiang Rai. As usual, we only arrived at
the hotel late in the evening. Our next stop was Sukhothai, another historic
city, and again, I was only able to catch a glimpse of a couple of chedis as
we drove out at six am the following morning.
We had left the mountains behind by now and were entering farmlands. We
drove through large plantations, where tapioca and pineapples were grown,
and saw large farms where cows were reared. The last day took us through
Thailand’s oldest National Park, Khao Yai. The main road ran through the
park, and all vehicles had to observe the speed limit. The rally ended in
the coastal city of
Pattaya.
The 10 selective sections covered different types of terrain, and the
weather played a role in how tough these turned out to be. In each SS, the
driver had to concentrate for hours, guiding his car over the rough and
tricky areas, with the co-driver navigating.
Japan had 13 cars in the race. One was driven by Ukyo Katayama, an ex F1
driver, who managed to finish 8th. There was just one ladies team, driven by
Ray Itoh from Japan and a Taiwanese co-driver.
Representing Malaysia for the 5th year were the Ho brothers, with Francis
as driver and Jacky as co-driver. This year they competed in a Land Rover
Discovery and made sure and steady progress. Unfortunately they ended up
wasting valuable time winching out other cars which got stuck in the mud.
The worst of the SS was when the cars had to negotiate a very slippery
and hilly 90km. We waited for them to finish at a village, and it was a long
wait. When we finally heard a rally car in the distance, we ran back to snap
photos.
It was 35 minutes later before the next car arrived. An hour later, a
third car approached, and then no more. The remaining cars had got stuck in
mud at Km66. Once they were all extricated they turned back to the starting
point, and the afternoon SS had to be postponed.
Another exciting SS involved a river crossing. The first few cars got
through without any problems. However, they dug out the soft riverbed and
made the water deeper for the next cars. Soon the first car got stuck and
the co-driver had to climb out to look for a tree to attach the winch.
Alas, there were no trees, and they had to wait for someone who was
willing to stop and help. Soon another car got stuck, then another. At one
point there were three cars stuck at once. All had to be winched, with one
getting a push from the locals.
Another SS was delayed when the cars encountered logging trucks on the
track and there was no room to overtake. One SS required the drivers to
negotiate padi fields, twisting and turning along the narrow raised tracks.
We stood in tapioca fields, amongst pineapples and tall corn, watching. In
many places, the friendly locals gave us corncobs to chew on whilst we
waited.
The rally ended in Pattaya. The overall winners were from Korea, who
drove a Ssanyong Musso. Second and third placing went to Thai teams, who
drove a Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-Max respectively. The winning team received
120,000 Baht (RM12,000) in prize money. Only 32 out of the initial 44 cars
finished the rally. The two cars from Taiwan had their service crew run out
on them on Day 3.
All in all, though, things ran smoothly, and there were no major
accidents or injuries.
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