Mitsubishi Triton Will Be Latest In Reli Debut At The Asia Cross Country Rally 2023

JAKARTA - Mitsubishi Motors' racing team division, Team Ralliart, announced that it will compete in the Asia Cross Country Rally which starts in August 2023.

In his participation in the Asian scene, Team Ralliart will get off with the latest generation of cross-country prototypes from the Mitsubishi Triton Group T1.

The pickup will appear with a new all-new design, including frames, body, chassis, and machines.

Dakar rally winner and Team Ralliart director, Hiroshi Masuoka, believes that the all-new Triton will have reliable driving performance, stability, and comfort in participating in rally competitions.

"We have carried out a resilience test with more difficult field arrangements than the actual rally conditions, its performance was confirmed beyond our expectations and gave us great confidence for our second consecutive championship," said Masuoka, quoted from Motor1, Saturday, July 1.

The Asia Cross Country Rally 2023 competition will start ceremonially on August 13 in Pattaya, Thailand. Then, the rally will start the next day. The contestants will take their cars past the Cambodian border. Participants will enter Laos on August 17 and reach the finish line on Saturday, August 19.

During the rally, racers are required to move their cars up to 2,000 km, including more than 1,000 km on the special stage.

Different from previous years, the Asia Cross Country Rally 2023 has a variety of terrain, ranging from mountains, heavy rain, muddy roads, and river crossings.

This difficult terrain will be a real test in terms of stability and resilience for the latest Triton. What's more, the rainy season is hitting Thailand which means the conditions will be even more challenging.

Team Ralliart will return to this event after last season's overall win.

Meanwhile, the racers who will be deployed to drive the latest Triton are Thai racer Chayapon Yotha, also Japanese racers, Katsuhiko Taguchi, and Rifat Sungkar who are experienced rally riders from Indonesia.

Before making his debut in the rally arena, Mitsubishi Triton L200 will be introduced first on July 26. With a design more or less the same as the XRT Concept, the pickup will show its face in Thailand.

Photo: The latest Mitsubishi Triton is being tested in preparation for the Asia Cross Country Rally 2023 (source: Mitsubishi Motor)