After last racing before COVID-19, Show Aikawa‘s FLEX SHOW AIKAWA Racing will make their return to the Asia Cross Country Rally in August. The team will field a Toyota Land Cruiser 150 Prado for himself and Masato Kawabata with Daychapong Toicharoen as co-driver.
Kawabata and Toicharoen currently compete in D1 Grand Prix, the former a three-time champion with titles in 2007, 2013, and 2015. Toicharoen hails from Thailand, where the AXCR takes place, but is fluent in Japanese. In 2023, Kawabata finished ninth in the top-level D1GP standings while Toicharoen raced a part-time schedule.
In 2019, Kawabata finished second overall in his AXCR début. AIKAWA Racing first appeared at the rally the year prior, finishing sixteenth with Aikawa, Kinya Miyamoto, and Takahiro Yasui.
Although they did not return to the AXCR after the onset of the pandemic, Aikawa kept the programme alive by competing in the XCR Sprint Cup and Rally Hokkaido, both of which Kawabata won in 2023. Aikawa himself also runs rallies in a Toyota Yaris from Toyota Gazoo Racing. Due to timing, the team will not be able to defend their Rally Hokkaido win, though Aikawa plans to field a second car in the future.
“It’s our first Asia Cross Country Rally in five years, so both Kawabata and I are very excited and looking forward to it,” said Aikawa. “We believe that we will make up for the humiliation of 2019 and win our class.”
Students from Chuo Automobile College in Chiba Prefecture as well as mechanics from team title sponsor FLEX will provide technical service for the Land Cruiser. Toyo Tires returns as a team partner while TONOX is assisting in reducing the vehicle’s weight.
Aikawa starred in a variety of films, particularly from the action, horror, and yakuza genres, during the 1990s and 2000s. He portrayed the titular hero in the Zebraman series and starred in most horror movies directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa like Pulse, Serpent’s Path, and the Suit Yourself or Shoot Yourself TV film series. His latest film Voice premiered in February.
The 2024 Asia Cross Country Rally will take place on 11–17 August; it starts in Surat Thani, Thailand, and will conclude in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. Toyota is the reigning race winner.
