Kiwi rally duo Zeal Jones and Bayden Thomson returned to the Morizo Challenge Cup this past weekend as the championship headed to Japan for Round 5 at Rally Hokkaido.
After a challenging outing at Rally Kamui in August, where contact with a hidden concrete drain forced a retirement despite running in the top three, the pair were determined to reset and push for their first outright win of the season.
Heading into Hokkaido, Jones and Thomson were second in the championship, trailing leaders Otake Nao and Hashimoto Misaki by 73 points.
With only three rounds remaining, including Hokkaido, the Kiwi crew knew it was a crucial weekend to maintain their title challenge. Rally Hokkaido presented a fresh set of challenges on unfamiliar surfaces, demanding a careful balance of speed, precision, and control.
The opening stage of the rally saw Jones and Thomson start in fifth place, finding themselves just over 19 seconds off the lead. They immediately began clawing back time, moving to third on the second stage, a mere three seconds from the front.
The opening day continued to be a test of resilience, with the Kiwi crew alternating between third and fourth in the remaining stages.
Despite setting increasingly competitive times, technical issues with their Toyota GR Yaris hampered their rhythm, leaving them fourth overall at the end of the first day, almost two minutes behind the leaders.
Reflecting on the opening day, Jones said, “It was a pretty frustrating day for us.
“It’s really not gone our way today. We struggled in the morning. We made a change for the afternoon, and it was much better… We’ve been fighting a technical issue all day. It’s a massive rally, still really enjoyable, heaps of fans, huge crowds, really cool environment, and there are still positives.”
Day two offered a chance for the Kiwi pair to fight back. They delivered a consistent pace throughout, including a stage victory on the 11th stage, edging out the second-place crew by just 0.3 seconds.
Despite the strong performances, Jones and Thomson could not quite reach the podium, ultimately finishing fourth overall, 53 seconds shy of third place and just over two minutes behind the rally winner.
Speaking about the weekend, Jones acknowledged the challenges they faced but focused on the positives.
“We finished the final show of Rally Hokkaido. We finished it, which is a positive. We were fighting issues the entire weekend, down on power and going in and out of four-wheel drive at some points on day one.
“It was mentally draining, especially on day one. But there were definitely positives across the weekend. We’ll move on to the next round in about three to four weeks, back onto the tarmac, where we’ll do a little test… really looking forward to making the last final round special.”
The Morizo Challenge Cup now moves back to tarmac for the Kumakogen Rally from October 3-5, where Jones and Thomson will aim to turn their evident speed and resilience into a strong result and finally claim their first victory of the season.
Header Image: Cusco Racing
