After a hard day's work, a high-speed crash puts him out of action! Frightened by the Beast [Part 4: Webike Staff's "Asia Cross Country Rally 2025" Entry Report].

This is a record of the sweat, tears, and comedy of how the people at Webike Thailand came to participate in the AXCR (Asia Cross Country Rally 2025) and what actually happened as a result of their participation. Previous

2025/8/9 Leg1 Pattaya to Prachinburi

RS01: 116.00km SS1: 199.13km RS02: 49.82km Total: 364.93km

From the official AXCR2025 information book The SS1 route is about 200km long, flat land with no mountains or steep hills. The first 100 km section is a rubber farm. The first 100 km section begins on a rubber plantation route, passing through the village of Nong My Kaeng and arriving at Sanam Chai Forest Park. This section includes a 400-meter-long water feature and a waterway between 38 and 39 km. After crossing asphalt road 3076, the route enters Lakating Forest Park, where participants must cross two creeks at kilometers 60 and 65 and a concrete Klong Si Yad bridge at kilometer 70. This section ends with a PC stop at km 85.6 and a general country road to a service area at km 91. The second half of the route begins at km 92.5, passing through villages with speed limits and Thailand's largest eucalyptus forest park. Competitors will face obstacles, bogs, and water holes for more than 80 km before reaching the finish line at 199.13 km.

The competition will finally begin

today

. The morning of the rally starts early with the 1st bike starting at 6:00 a.m., leaving in 1-minute intervals in order of number. First, the contestants will travel 116 km on public roads from the official hotel in Pattaya to the start of the SS, where the competition will begin. Although this section is not a competition, of course there is no map, and the contestants must follow the designated route by the designated time while looking at a frame map. Incidentally, all sections are time-controlled, and a time penalty will be imposed if you do not arrive on time. I had already practiced Koma-Zukuri after returning to Japan, so I arrived at the start point without any problem. From here, the SS, the competition section, finally began. This is the section of the SS where we drive at full throttle until we reach the service area.

5.At the signal of " 4.3.2.1.GO! But 3km after the start, I suddenly got lost. As a rally novice, this was something I had expected to happen , so I was well-prepared. All I had to do was to go back to the place where I was sure I was on the right track and start over! SS1 was not that difficult to follow the route on the frame chart, but it was quite a chaotic situation to try to match the distance on the rally computer with the frame chart while at full throttle, and also to keep track of the road surface conditions. In addition, the AXCR was quite busy with many instructions on the frame chart, so we had to slow down or we would be in danger of losing our lives. The first half of the course up to the service area was easy to drive, with a mix of fast, relatively dry soil, grass, and sand, but I fell on a deep waterbed at one point and had to take a break to get out with the help of a fellow team member who came later. During the break, about seven local kids came up to us and asked us many questions. I was too tired to take a break, so I hurried on. From this point onward, we were faced with a series of hardships, such as heavy muddy conditions, water beds, and puddles that were deep enough to reach the tank. We managed to make it to the service area, and during the 20 minutes we had, we rehydrated, refueled, and rewound the frame map before starting the afternoon SS. The first tragedy was the same as in the morning, but the suspension was overheated, the damping was no longer effective, the suspension was too weak, and the car bottomed out. Mr. Osaki's prediction came true. He managed to get himself up and moved on, but after making a wrong turn, he was unable to stand on his feet due to the pain in his legs at the next muddy course and crashed again, further aggravating his legs. At this point, he was unable to pull the bike up by himself and decided to retire for the day, as he could not go any further. This was at 15:00. The team requested rescue and the organizers dispatched an ambulance, but of course there was no way a car could enter such a place, so the team's support car was dispatched with the team's mechanic, Banks, on board. While we were waiting for rescue, we were bitten by mosquitoes because we were on the wrong course and of course no one could pass by. The support car, a Hiace, was not allowed to enter the road, so we drove our car to a nearby area and Bank was supposed to come to our rescue on foot, but the signal was not good enough to transmit our location information and we could not meet up with him. At 16:00, a tractor man who happened to be passing by woke up my bike, and I moved to the place where I could enter my car with all my might. It was a great advantage that I could speak Thai and communicate with him without any problem. The only thing that saved me was that I was given water and warm encouragement from the support car of Works Mitsubishi, which was participating on a four-wheeled vehicle, while I was waiting at the place where we were moving. However, we were told that there was no road from the banked position, so we decided it would be faster to approach from here, and started moving again.

We were wrong in our decision and the road did not suddenly improve. At this point, it was 17:00 and it was getting darker and darker. It was getting darker and darker, and I didn't want to wait in the dark. Just as I was getting anxious, Banks came to my rescue a little after 6:00 p.m., having walked more than 5 km and covered in mud! We tried to get to the support vehicle from here using google doc, but it was muddy and we couldn't make progress... We followed his directions, but there was no road... We kept going back and forth, and when it was completely dark, we decided to bushwhack through the jungle in the dark, just following the direction where the support vehicle was. We decided to go bushwalking in the jungle in the dark, using only the direction of the support car as our guide. It was a struggle, but we made it to the support car and returned to the hotel after 9:00 p.m. Incidentally, Leg 1 was quite a survival race, with many TEAM Moto JAPAN members retiring, one breaking a bone, and another camping out until morning because his cell phone ran out of battery power due to heat stroke. Those who have participated every year said that this year's course was very tough, and it was a day when they realized once again that they had come to the wrong place. Incidentally, the person who camped at the bivouac was the same person who helped us escape from the first fall, and although he was unable to run in Leg 2, he was a strong man who returned safely to the bivouac the next morning. I was scared of wild animals every time I heard rustling noises coming from the forest while waiting for rescue.

2025/8/10 Leg2 Prachinburi to Nakhon Ratchasima

RS03: 142.81km SS2: 177.85km RD04: 179.75km Total: 500.41km

From AXCR2025 Official Information BookThis is the highlands of Khonburi District - Songsang District, mostly 80% cassava plantations. From the starting point to the first 44 km, the route is through rocky cassava plantations. The route winds along designated farmland, with elevation changes, slopes, and ditches. Competitors should heed the warnings in the road book, and at kilometers 46-63 they will enter a wide road along an irrigation canal. This is a fairly fast route. From the 63.5 km point, the route then becomes a mix of open areas with cassava plantations, orchards, and durian fields, before entering a service point at the PC (competitors' parking lot) at the 99 km point. The race then continues to the Sengsang County area at the 107km PC start point. There, in the open cassava plantations next to the Rumprimat Dam, an irrigation canal leads down to Slabot. This is the final section that will be the route of the cassava plantation with many potholes until the end of the SS at the 177.85 km marker in Slabot. Today,

due to yesterday's crash, we decided to cancel the entire leg for safety reasons. However, we had to start the race or we would be out of the competition, so we only started the race first thing in the morning and returned to the pits as a day retiree. I decided to spend the whole day as an interpreter for the service team drivers, and after everyone started, I got in the service car and drove to the service area. I helped the service staff a little at the service area. In a sense, it was a good experience for me because I had no idea what the service staff was actually doing when I was participating as a rider. Like the competitors, the service crews do not know the location of the service area in advance, and they are given a map of the area, so they have to go to the designated area and set up their tents, etc. based on the map. The riders who had completed the morning SS arrived one after another and were given hydration and salt solids. They are also responsible for refueling the machines and chains, checking for any problems or damage, and providing first aid. Under the regulations, you must be registered as a service crew member to be able to touch the machine. This check is very important because the rider must repair the machine by himself in case of vehicle trouble during the SS. In addition, the AXCR map is so detailed that it is necessary to divide the day's entire route into sections since the map holder is not able to hold the entire day's route. When the last rider of the team leaves the service area, the work of the service team during the competition is complete. We arrived back at the bivouac hotel at around 3 pm. Here, too, the pit set-up is done before the riders return. At the bivouac, it is necessary to set up a full-fledged maintenance base for the next day's maintenance. After a while, the riders started coming back one after another. When we asked the riders who had finished today's Leg 2, they told us that the difficulty level of the course was easier than yesterday, but that they had made many mistakes due to the difficulty of the course map. I left him and went to the hospital for a checkup, where I was told that I had right leg ligament damage, a bruised right shoulder, and a slight whiplash in my neck. After the riders returned, the service staff began their work in earnest, and in some cases, they may work through the night. Dinner was rarely served on time, and the maintenance work continued in order to ensure that the riders would be in perfect condition the next day. It is very difficult to complete a rally without the cooperation of not only the riders but also the team, including the service staff. I went to bed early after a briefing and dinner to conserve my energy and recover from my injuries. Continue to Part 5! To the gallery (9)