Team Southeast Asia holds their position after a hot, dusty and gruelling Day 4 of the GS Trophy Southeast Asia 2016

SALAWIN NATIONAL PARK, THAILAND — The fourth day of the week-long GS Trophy 2016 brought not much change in the standings for Team Southeast Asia, but provided a satisfying day’s riding.

The day’s route took riders on a loop around the Salawin National Park, through more than 20 river crossings and up dusty tracks that left them covered in fine brown powder.

Part of the ride involved a stretch alongside the river that separates Thailand from Myanmar, seen here in the background.

“Today we rode safely. No one fell,” said Peerapat Woratham, the team’s Thai rider. “But it was hot and very dusty.”

A decent points haul from the day saw the team climb level in the standings with the All-Female Team at joint 16th position, who rode hard through the day, as this pic of French member Stephanie Bouisson shows.

The challenges included a long ride down a river at the highest possible speed while looking out for three small signs hung on trees, as well as a fallen log crossing.

For the first time in the event, there was a night-time challenge that involved riding skills; competitors had to ride in a tight area and perform tasks like picking up a bottle of water and placing it atop an oil barrel, and hooking a Leatt neck brace onto a traffic cone with one hand from a moving bike.

The team’s 20 points gave them a total of 78, leaving them narrowly ahead of Team Japan and Team Austria-Switzerland.

A series of strong performances from Team South Korea saw them vault ahead into 15th position.

South Africa continues to lead the GS Trophy with an impressive 161 points, with three days of the competition left.

“It was a lot cleaner today,” said Tommy Lee, the Singapore representative in the team. “It could have been better, but at least we didn’t make silly mistakes. I got to use my surgical mask for the first time!”

“Today was the best day for the riding, and today was the best day for the SEA team.  We did our best. We were not the fastest but we made no mistakes. We’ll try to do it like this from now on. My target? If we can get 10th to 15th I’ll be very happy.”

READ MORE
GS Trophy 2016 Day Three: Some ground gained, some lost
GS Trophy 2016 Day Two: Southeast Asia overtakes Japan
GS Trophy 2016 Day One: A slow start for Team Southeast Asia
The Olympics of motorcycles

GS TROPHY DAY 4 STANDINGS
1 South Africa 161
2 Team Germany 149
3 Team UK 148
4= Team Latin America 147
4= Team CEEU 147 
6= Team Brazil 131
6= Team China 131
8 Team USA 122
9 Team Argentina 114
10= Team France 112
10= Team Mexico 112
12=Team Canada 105
12= Team Italy 105
14 Team Russia 99
15 Team South Korea 84
16= International Female Team 78
16= Team Southeast Asia 78
18 Team Japan 75
19 Team Alps (Austria-Switzerland) 72