Third time’s the charm.

After falling short in 2023 and 2024, Team Mitsubishi Ralliart has finally achieved overall victory at the Asia Cross Country Rally with the sixth-generation Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck.

Mitsubishi came close to winning again in 2024, but a mechanical failure at the penultimate stages prevented them to do so. Team director and two-time Dakar rally winner Hiroshi Masuoka said the team focused more on making the Triton durable and reliable for this year’s AXCR while keeping most of the updates from last year’s rally truck.

The Triton was built under the FIA T1D cross country rally regulations, which allowed things like sequential gearboxes, shorter rear overhangs, and a rear coil spring setup unlike the standard Triton that has leaf springs.

Thailand’s Chayapon Yotha and co-driver Peerapong Sombutwong led from the beginning and never looked back in the #112 Triton, winning the 2025 edition of AXCR with more than an 8 minute lead over the second-placed Hilux pickup truck of Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand.

Yotha already built a lead of over 29 minutes by the end of SS2, which gave plenty of cushion without the Triton going all-out for the whole course of the rally. It’s worth noting that some of the stages in this year’s AXCR were cancelled due to security concerns around the border areas of Cambodia and Thailand.

Nevertheless, this year’s edition of the AXCR saw 8 competitive special stages with a mix of gravel roads, river crossings, tight forest stages, mud pits, along with navigational challenges along the way. The #105 and #118 Tritons that made up Mitsubishi Ralliart’s three-car assault in the AXCR finished 5th and 22nd overall, respectively.