Brian Green / Fleur Pedersen and Reece Jones / Steve Smith competed in the International Rally of Thailand on the 13th and 14th October. The rally this year moved to a new base in Pattaya, where the ceremonial start and finish were both held. Brian Green went into the rally with the number 1 on the side of his car, and hoped to be in this position, and win the prestigious King's Cup, at the end of the weekend. Seeded at 2 was local driver Ruegchan Wittaya in an Evo 8, followed by Kasikam Suphot in an impreza. Reece Jones was next away.  There were a number of Japanese drivers competing, including lady driver Nagoshi Mayumi. The lead up to the rally was very wet, with heavy rain falling on Thursday and Friday in the leg 1 area.

Saturday consisted of three stages, run three times each. Green went into the lead early, winning stage 1 from Suphot, Wittaya then Jones.  Suphot ran off the road in stage 2, and got stuck in the mud, unable to rejoin the road. He restarted the rally later in the day. By the end of the first group of 3 stages, Green held a 20 second lead over Jones, followed by Wittaya. Jones commented that he was "a bit rusty" but was getting back into it and enjoying himself.
 
The repeat loop saw Jones win two stages and Green 1, Green's lead now a slim 4 seconds. The third loop threatened rain, however, it didn't eventuate. This time it was a win a piece to Jones, Green and Wittaya. Green had one big moment on the last corner of stage 8, running wide off the outside of the corner and knocking over the yellow finish board. Unfortunately, this stage was not kind to Jones, as he bent an intercooler pipe just after a ford, and then, mysteriously damaged the rear codriver's door and window "without hitting anything"!  Jones and Steve Smith tried to effect some roadside repairs in very limited touring time, but to no effect. At the end of day 1, Green held a 47 second advantage over Jones, with Wittaya only 4 seconds back.
 
Leg 2 was run on the wide flowing roads around the Nong Pa Lai reservoir. It consisted of 3 passes of 2 stages. Green / Pedersen set off into the stages first, but their challenge for the king's cup was effectively over about 1km from the stage finish, when their Evo 9 lost drive. They managed to crawl out of the stage with suspected front dif failure. This immediately moved Jones to the lead, and a tight battle started between him and Wittaya, whcih would continue most of the day.  Jones / Smith went on to win the next two stages and lead the rally by 16 seconds, going to the midday service. Green limped through, making it back to service, where a broken input shaft was diagnosed. Unfortunately, when this was replaced, more damaged was discovered but there was no time to fix it. Jones, on the other hand, was having a great run, enjoying the Leg 2 stages and feeling he was "back into it".
 
On stage 13 Wittaya pulled back 7 seconds, to narrow Jones lead to just 9 seconds with 2 stages to run.  Green was experiencing a bad vibration in the car, and was just concentrating on getting to the finish of each stage, and hopefully hanging onto 3rd. Nagoshi Mayumi was having a good day, finishing the leg in third position.  Jones / Smith won the next stage, opening up a 18 second buffer, with 1 stage to run. Then the rain came. It poured, the way only tropical rain can! This proved to be to Reece's advantage, as he won the last stage by 38 seconds, to take out overall honours by exactly 1 min. Wittaya was second overall, with Brian Green / Fleur Pedersen holding onto 3rd. Nagoshi Mayumi was a very happy 4th overall.
 
Jones commented that he had a "very enjoyable weekend, codriver Steve and I clicked very well. I entered the event for a bit of fun, and to come away with a win, and the King's Cup, was an added bonus. I do feel sorry for Brian though, it was unfortunate what happened to him today, I was looking forward to chasing him."
 
Brian was philosophical, commenting that in the morning "we almost had one hand on the cup, but it wasn't to be. We are very happy, however, that Reece and Steve won the event. Providing our programme next year allows it, we certainly intend to be back to try again."
 
Both New Zealand crews were impressed with the organisation and running of the event, and congratulated the Rally of Thailand organisers on a "job well done"