The Asia Cross Country Rally got a day off Tuesday because Stage 4 was canceled (Thursday was also dropped). When the race resumed on Wednesday, everyone was quickly caked in mud and dirt.

Stage 5 took racers on a loop starting and ending in Prachinburi, following the same course that was used in Stage 1. This time, however, the terrain had been severely warped by that first day’s action as well as thunderstorms in the area over the following three days. Reservoirs and irrigation canals were also part of the course, seemingly safer places than the messed-up dirt that actually led to rather precarious water crossings.

It didn’t take long for the race to get messy. Multiple drivers got stuck in the mud or water, including the Auto overall leader Chayapon Yotha and Stage 3 winner Mana Pornsiricherd. Suwat Limjirapinya, who was second behind Yotha entering Stage 5, finished with his Isuzu almost totally mud brown and with the rear bed on the verge of detaching.

With their cars beached, the electric winch was a driver’s best friend. Tadamune Nakai and Akihito Yoshimura, both rocking shorts and waterlogged sneakers, got trapped in a narrow creek and had to walk back and forth across the water while finding a way to pull their Jimny out.

Yotha was trapped in mud 160 kilometers into the stage. While it took 20 minutes for him to get out, he still holds a double-digit lead in the overall due to his rivals’ misfortunes. Limjirapinya also getting stuck dropped him to 14th, while Pornsiricherd moved up to second but trails Yothaby 14 minutes.

“We knew there would be some very deep puddles on the afternoon course, but we got stuck in the mud ourselves while trying to avoid a stopped car ahead of us,” Yotha explained.

His Mitsubishi teammate Kazuto Koide didn’t have it any easier either. His rear brakes failed early on, slowing his pace until he made the necessary repairs at the refuel point. By the end, he was 27th.

Katsuhiko Taguchi seemed to be one of the only drivers without major issue, enjoying an ironically clean day to win the stage.

“Compared to SS1, the road conditions seemed about 1.5 times worse,” Taguchi noted. “My co-driver Takahiro Yasui navigated with confidence. While looking and adjusting for changes in the road surface, we did our best to gain as much ground as possible.

“It was a good idea to make some adjustments to the suspension setup yesterday to soften the initial blows. It seemed like a lot of the cars were quite beaten up today, so we’ll have our car checked again and prepare for the final stages of the race.”

Stage 5 winners

Auto

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1D	1	105	Katsuhiko Taguchi	Team Mitsubishi Ralliart	3:14:04
T1G	18	115	Satoshi Takeno	Garage Monchi & Yanagawa Iron Works JapInd	3:59:48
T1E	37	127	Chen Ho-Huang	i Taiwan Rally Team	10:34:00
T2A-D	3	103	Thongchai Klinkate	ISUZU Suphan Sports Yokohama Liqui Moly Racing Team	3:16:40
T2D	20	20	Yuichi Iijima	SRS-Osaka Welport Rally Team	4:07:13

Moto

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
M1	4	1	Norihisa Matsumoto	Indonesia Cross Country Rally Team	3:31:31
M2	1	46	Jakkrit Chawtale	JC Dirt Shop	3:10:13
M3	9	45	Khomsan Udomteekasiri	Ark Bar Samui	3:50:23
Sidecar	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	14:00:00

Leaders after Stage 5

Auto

Class	Overall	Number	Driver	Team	Total Time
T1D	1	112	Chayapon Yotha	Team Mitsubishi Ralliart	13:07:35
T1G	15	116	Memen Harianto	Indonesia Cross Country Rally Team	18:06:03
T1E	36	127	Chen Ho-Huang	i Taiwan Rally Team	40:07:00
T2A-D	4	142	Bailey Cole	Feeliq Innovation Motorsport	13:42:00
T2D	30	20	Yuichi Iijima	SRS-Osaka Welport Rally Team	27:34:58

Moto

Class	Overall	Number	Rider	Team	Total Time
M1	4	22	Takuya Izumoto	JISOK-RR	16:09:14
M2	1	16	Yoshio Ikemachi	Team Musashi International	14:11:32
M3	6	45	Khomsan Udomteekasiri	Ark Bar Samui	17:47:33
Sidecar	DNF	N/A	No Finishers	N/A	56:30:00

Featured image credit: Suwat Limjirapinya