In 1989, Laurent Fignon had a lead of 50 seconds over American Greg LeMond coming into the final 24.5km time trial of the Tour de France. No one expected the American to close the gap in such a short stage, but LeMond did just that. Riding the fastest ever individual time trial back in those years with an average speed of 54.545km/h, LeMond beat Fignon’s time by 58 seconds and, in doing so, won the Tour by just eight seconds.

Ten years later, an epic battle was being waged by Mika Hakkinen and Michael Schumacher in the world of Formula 1. Ahead of Schumacher in the drivers championship by just a few points and seemingly having the race at Monza in the bag, the Flying Finn lost control on the 30th lap, spinning out, and the German duly took the win. Hakkinen memorably stepped out of his car and had a meltdown of sorts in the trees, an attempt to hide his emotions from the cameras.

Sport can be a cruel thing. Behind every victory are hundreds of failures and setbacks to make that moment on top of the podium all the more precious.

At the recently concluded Asia Cross Country Rally, anybody who followed the race would tell you that it was a three-way battle between Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand, Isuzu Suphan Explorer Liqui Moly Rally Team, and Mitsubishi Ralliart. At the beginning of the race, the stage was set for a thrilling showdown as each team laid down their cards.

In Special Stage (SS) 1, Mana Pornsiricherd and co-driver Kittisak Klinchan of Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand won the day with a time of 1:26:44, followed by Thongchai Klinkate and Banpoth Ampornmaha of Isuzu at 1:28:20. In third were Mitsubishi Ralliart’s Chayapon Yotha and Peerapong Sombutwong at 1:29:39.

But by the second stage, the top three standings were upended. Iko Hanawa of Toyota was now leading with a total time of 2:51:14, followed by Klinkate/Ampornmaha at 2:52:17. Yotha and Sombutwong were in third at 2:56:55, still within striking distance. Mana and Kittisak had dropped down to 17th overall with a time of 3:20:48—casualties of a navigational error.

By SS3, Yotha and Sombutwong had clawed their way up to second overall with a time of 5:24:51. Toyota’s Hanawa and co-driver Hirokazu Somemiya were still ahead with a time of 5:17:43, but the pressure was on. Klinkate had dropped down to third at 5:29:26.

At the end of SS4, Mitsubishi Ralliart had seemingly done it. Yotha and Sombutwong put in an impressive time of 3:26:50, just four seconds slower than a surging Pornsiricherd who regained second overall. Mitsubishi Ralliart was now in the lead with a total time of 8:51:41, more than 23 minutes ahead of Toyota and 29 minutes ahead of Isuzu.

With just two stages to go, it seemed like all Mitsubishi Ralliart had to do was race conservatively, not get lost, and then they’d reclaim the crown that they had first won back in 2022, and then had lost in 2023.

But there are never any guarantees in racing. Only a day later, Mitsubishi Ralliart would see its hopes dashed as—just 2km from the finish—Triton rally car #103 sputtered to a dead stop.

With an uncooperative engine, Yotha and Sombutwong had no other choice but to get towed to the finish line, accruing a three-hour penalty and taking them out of contention.

With the next-placed Ralliart car of Kasuhiko Taguchi and Takahiro Yasui nearly an hour behind the leader, the best they could hope for was to hold on to their fifth-place ranking until the end.

Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

It was the other way around for Toyota, because while the duo of Mana and Kittisak had a major course error in Stage 2 that cost them more than 20 minutes, consistently fast-driving eventually put them back in the lead by the end of Stage 5. A flawless run in Stage 6 rewarded the two with their first rally win.

It would also be a hard-earned reward for Toyota Gazoo Racing Thailand, which finally won after seven years of racing in this event. Isuzu Suphan Explorer Liqui Moly Rally Team took second and third places with the duos of Suwat Limiirapinya/Prakob Chaothale and Klinkate/Ampornmaha.

Another Toyota driven by Hanawa and Somemiya took fourth, while Mitsubishi Ralliart’s Taguchi and Yasui rounded out the top five.

With the top contenders pulling no punches on a grueling, multiday course that at times seemed more like a Camel Trophy than a high-speed rally, preparation, skill, and not a little bit of luck separated the winners from the also-rans.

I’m reminded of that line from that most epic of car racing movies, Talladega Nights. “If you’re not first, you’re last.” With AXCR 2022 champion Chayapon Yotha officially listed as a DNF for this year, one hopes that this won’t be his last go at the race.

Sport always loves the underdog, after all.