i Taiwan Rally Team will compete in the 2025 Asia Cross Country Rally with three cars. Before heading to Thailand, the team met with Taiwanese foreign minister Lin Chia-lung on July 31 and received his blessing, including a flag-raising ceremony led by Ho-huang Chen.

Founded in 1996, the team specifically represents the China Driving Safety Association (中華安駕學會) with three specific goals as their mission:

• “Let the world see Taiwan through racing”
• “Showcase Taiwanese brands on the global stage through motorsport”
• “Training through racing to promote safe off-road driving”

The association provides off-road and emergency driving training for first responders and military, as well as promoting safe driving on and off roads for civilians. Since 2023, the team has jointly organized a fire and disaster relief event for the National Fire Agency of the Ministry of the Interior. Through i Taiwan and the association’s program, six firefighters—Hsieh Meng-hong, Lin Cheng-wei, Chen Jun-yuan, and three champions, Li Yating, Hong Rong-zhu, and Liu Li-jun—have become credentialed off-road driving instructors.

Three of the team’s navigators for the AXCR are also trained firefighters. Shen Wen-Wen, who will call the shots for Cynthia Chen, comes from the Taichung Fire Department. David Huang’s co-drivers Chen Bing-Yang and Chang Chi-Yuan respectively come from the Tainan and Taipei FDs.

Chen, nicknamed the “God of Off-Road” (越野車神) in Taiwan, is the team owner and defending winner of the T1E class. He will race a Luxgen n7 Model C with Liu Hong-Ying as navigator. Chen and Huang are respectively entered in the T1D category with Toyota Hiluxes.

The AXCR begins on August 8.

Featured image credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan