The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced that a Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck equipped with its GEOLANDAR M/T G003 mud-terrain tires for SUVs and pickup trucks won the overall championship in the Asia Cross Country Rally 2026 (hereafter, AXCR), Asia’s largest cross-country rally, which was held in Thailand from August 10 to August 15. The victory is the second consecutive overall championship for a Mitsubishi Triton running on GEOLANDAR tires. Vehicles equipped with YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires have achieved excellent results in past AXCRs, including overall championships in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Again this year, the GEOLANDAR tires’ outstanding driving performance and durability supported the winning vehicle as it raced to victory in a grueling cross-country rally.

The overall championship was won by a Mitsubishi Triton entered by Team Mitsubishi Ralliart, which achieved a back-to-back victory by pairing its Mitsubishi Triton with GEOLANDAR tires. The drivers on this year’s victorious team are lead driver Katsuhiko Taguchi and co-driver Takahiro Yasui. The pair finished Leg 1 and Leg 2 in third place overall, then took the overall lead by recording the fastest time in Leg 3, where a series of complex junctions required precise navigation. Thereafter, the team held on to the lead in a close contest with several rival teams in Leg 4 and Leg 5, which was run over a course named YOKOHAMA RUBBER SS5* and effectively became the decisive leg of the rally. The team protected their lead in the final Leg 6, avoiding punctures while driving carefully, and finished 2 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of their closest rival. The overall championship is the first for drivers Taguchi and Yasui and the first overall AXCR victory for a Japanese pair of drivers. * Leg 5 of this year’s AXCR was assigned a nickname using Yokohama Rubber’s corporate name. Of the first 10 vehicles to finish this year’s AXCR, five were equipped with GEOLANDAR tires, including the third-place Isuzu D-Max entered by ISUZU SUPHAN TRANE TITANIUM YOKOHAMA NEXZTER RALLY TEAM (lead driver: Ditsapong Maneein, co-driver: Atikij Srimongkhol). In addition, the GEOLANDAR CTS Rally Team’s Suzuki JIMNY SIERRA driven by a pair of Japanese women (lead driver: Koto Haneda, co-driver: Momo Tsukishima) finished 19th overall, 2nd in the T1G class, and took first place in the ladies' division. YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires deliver superior performance on the full range of off-road surfaces over an exceptionally long lifespan. In addition, the tire features a sturdy and aggressive design that enhances the off-road driving sensation. The superior off-road performance of YOKOHAMA’s GEOLANDAR brand tires, including the M/T G003, has been demonstrated in many off-road races held around the world, including the AXCR. First held in 1996, AXCR is an FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile) officially sanctioned race, similar to the Dakar Rally. This year’s AXCR was staged completely in Thailand on a course covering about 2,000km from Pattaya to Phitsanulok that took drivers through a diverse and challenging range of terrains, from mountains and jungles to plantations. The consumer tire strategy in Yokohama Rubber’s three-year (2024–2026) medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2026 (YX2026), aims to maximize the sales ratios of high-value-added tires by expanding sales of YOKOHAMA’s global flagship ADVAN brand, the GEOLANDAR brand of tires for SUVs and pickup trucks, winter tires, and 18-inch and larger tires. Yokohama Rubber positions participation in motorsports activities as crucial to its effort to further strengthen the ADVAN and GEOLANDAR brands. Yokohama Rubber therefore is again participating in a wide variety of motorsports events around the globe, from top-category to grassroots events.

Mitsubishi Triton on its way to the overall championship

Comment by Hiroshi Masuoka (Director of Team Mitsubishi Ralliart)

Again this year, Team Mitsubishi Ralliart selected Yokohama Rubber’s GEOLANDAR M/T G003 tires for our Tritons entered in the AXCR. This year, Chayapon’s vehicle was the only one that suffered a tire puncture. A flat tire can make it difficult for drivers to attack the course with confidence, which greatly affects the flow of the rally. Amid a very tough battle, I think the Taguchi/Yasui team’s ability to drive stably and complete the rally without a single puncture contributed greatly to their overall championship. The GEOLANDAR M/T G003’s highly stable performance supported that victory at this year’s AXCR.

Featured Image: Team Mitsubishi Ralliart celebrating its overall championship

Tagged: Pickup Tire Market

Vehicle Running on YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR Tires Wins Overall Championship at the Asia Cross Country Rally for 2nd Straight Year