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Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
CountryAsia
Oceania
Inaugural season1988
Drivers' champion NZL Hayden Paddon
Official websitefiaaprc.com
Current season
A Proton Satria Neo S2000 driven by 2011 champion Alister McRae at the 2010 Rally Hokkaido

The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S2000 regulations have tended to be the frontrunners.

History

The championship was first held in 1988, created out of the successful expansion of the World Rally Championship into Asia and linking with the debut of Rally Australia and won by Japan's Kenjiro Shinozuka in a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. Initially the championship had strong support from World Rally Championship teams, aided by more than half the calendar being WRC rallies and by Japanese manufacturers backing half of the front runners with Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Subaru all running front running teams. Toyota's double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz won the championship in 1990, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol, Colin McRae, Tommi Makinen, Richard Burns, Richard Burns and Ari Vatanen all won rallies. Several WRC teams used the championship as a junior development squad. By the late 1990s, the big teams were dropping away from the championship, or were running drivers from the region. The 2000 Rally New Zealand was the last joint WRC/APRC event and the WRC teams and manufacturers left and regional teams, like Subaru's New Zealand–based team and regional manufacturers like Proton were sharing the wins with privately run teams.

The shift to Group N and away from WRC regulations assisted as only Subaru and Mitsubishi had eligible cars for Group N. By the mid-2000s the teams were all privateers. The growth of Super 2000 regulations saw manufacturer teams return led by Proton.

Since 2013 Skoda have used the championship to develop young European-based drivers, with Esapekka Lappi, Jan Kopecký, Pontus Tidemand and Ole Christian Veiby all going on to compete at WRC WRC-2 level.

The championship has also been a proving ground for regional talent, even when World Rally teams were competing regional drivers from Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Malaysian driver Karamjit Singh brought the first victory for a driver from one of the emerging APRC nations with Jean-Louis Leyraud from the French Pacific island of New Caledonia and India's Gaurav Gill followed. The occasional European driver has moved into the region to find a cheaper series to compete in instead of the expensive European Rally Championship, like Jussi Valimaki.

Reflecting its roots as a subsidiary of the World Rally Championship it had class championships within the main championship for Group N cars and naturally aspirated Two Litre cars. In more modern times the sub-classes have been split geographically rather than technically, allowing competitors to compete for smaller portions of the series to bolster flagging entry numbers. The championships created were the Asia Cup, taking in Asian continent events in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and China with Thailand joining in 2003. The Pacific Cup takes in Oceania events in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

By taking victory at the 2009 Indonesian Rally, Australian Cody Crocker became the most successful driver in APRC history, winning his fourth consecutive title, all in Subarus. Four drivers have won three APRC titles each; New Zealander Possum Bourne, Kenneth Eriksson of Sweden, Malaysia's Karamjit Singh and India's Gaurav Gill.

The championship presently has events in New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, China and India. In the past the championship has run events in New Caledonia, Thailand and Indonesia.

After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, APRC returned in 2022 with the first round held in Chennai's Madras International Circuit in India. Debutantes Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai won the first round of the Asia Cup and qualified for the finals. Hayden Paddon won the APRC 2022 title.[1] In 2023, Indonesia's Rifat Sungkar and Aussie co-driver Ben Searcy won the APRC title while H.Rahmat and co-driver Hade Mboi lifted the Asia Cup.[2]

List of events

Sourced from:[3][4]

Event Years Active
New Zealand Rally New Zealand 1988–2000
Malaysia Malaysian Rally 1988–1998, 2000–2001, 2005–2019
India Himalayan Rally 1988–1990
Australia Rally Australia 1988–1998
Indonesia Rally Indonesia 1989–1997, 2000, 2005–2009, 2019, 2022–present
Thailand Thailand Rally 1992–2003, 2005, 2013
Hong Kong Hong Kong Beijing Rally 1994–1996
China China Rally 1997–2002, 2004–present
Australia Rally of Canberra 1999–2008, 2017
New Caledonia Rallye de Nouvelle-Calédonie 2001–2002, 2004–2016
New Zealand Rally of Rotorua 2001–2006
Japan Rally Hokkaido 2002–present
India Rally India 2003–2004
New Zealand International Rally of Whangarei 2007–present
Australia International Rally of Queensland 2009–2016
India Rally of India 2015–present
New Zealand International Rally of Otago 2019–present

APRC Champions

Sourced from:[5][6]

Season Driver Co-driver Car Team
1988 Japan Kenjiro Shinozuka Lithuania Fred Gocentas Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
1989 New Zealand Rod Millen New Zealand Tony Sircombe Mazda 323 4WD
1990 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Luis Moya Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 Toyota Team Europe
1991 Australia Ross Dunkerton Lithuania Fred Gocentas Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
1992 Australia Ross Dunkerton Lithuania Fred Gocentas Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Mitsubishi Ralliart
1993 New Zealand Possum Bourne New Zealand Rodger Freeth Subaru Legacy RS Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1994 New Zealand Possum Bourne New Zealand Tony Sircombe Subaru Impreza 555 Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1995 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson Sweden Staffan Parmander Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III Mitsubishi Ralliart
1996 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson Sweden Staffan Parmander Subaru Impreza 555 Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1997 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson Sweden Staffan Parmander Subaru Impreza WRC Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1998 Japan Yoshio Fujimoto New Zealand Tony Sircombe Toyota Corolla WRC Tein Sport
1999 Japan Katsuhiko Taguchi Malaysia Ron Teoh Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Mitsubishi Ralliart Malaysia
2000 New Zealand Possum Bourne Australia Mark Stacey Subaru Impreza WRX / Subaru Impreza S4 WRC Possum Bourne Motorsport
2001 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Malaysia Allen Oh Proton PERT Proton Eon Rally Team
2002 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Malaysia Allen Oh Proton PERT Proton Eon Rally Team
2003 Germany Armin Kremer Germany Fred Berssen Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII MRF Racing
2004 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Malaysia Allen Oh Proton PERT Proton Eon Rally Team
2005 Finland Jussi Välimäki Finland Jarkko Kalliolepo Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MRF Racing
2006 Australia Cody Crocker Australia Benjamin Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI Les Walkden Racing
2007 Australia Cody Crocker Australia Benjamin Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI Motor Image Rally Team
2008 Australia Cody Crocker Australia Benjamin Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI Motor Image Rally Team
2009 Australia Cody Crocker Australia Benjamin Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI Motor Image Rally Team
2010 Japan Katsuhiko Taguchi Australia Mark Stacey Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X MRF Racing
2011 United Kingdom Alister McRae Australia Bill Hayes Proton Satria Neo S2000 Proton Motorsport
2012 Australia Chris Atkinson Belgium Stéphane Prévot Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2013 India Gaurav Gill Australia Glenn Macneall Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2014 Czech Republic Jan Kopecký Czech Republic Pavel Dresler Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2015 Sweden Pontus Tidemand Sweden Emil Axelsson Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2016 India Gaurav Gill Australia Glenn Macneall Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2017 India Gaurav Gill Belgium Stéphane Prévot Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2018 Japan Yūya Sumiyama Japan Takahiro Yasui Škoda Fabia R5 Cusco Racing
2019 Chinese Taipei Lin De-wei China Le Kepeng Subaru XV Subaru Rally Team China
2020

2021
Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 New Zealand Hayden Paddon New Zealand John Kennard Hyundai i20 AP4 Hyundai New Zealand
2023 Indonesia Rifat Sungkar Australia Ben Searcy Škoda Fabia R5/Rally2 evo LFN Sederhana Motorsport

Asia Cup

Season Champion Car Team
2008 Australia Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STI Motor Image Rally Team
2009 Australia Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STI Motor Image Rally Team
2010 Japan Yūya Sumiyama Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
2011 United Kingdom Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000 Proton Motorsport
2012 Japan Yūya Sumiyama Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2013 New Zealand Michael Young Toyota Vitz Cusco Racing
2014 Japan Yuya Sumiyama Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2015 Japan Hitoshi Takayama Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2016 India Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2017 India Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2018 Japan Yūya Sumiyama Škoda Fabia R5 Cusco Racing
2019 New Zealand Michael Young Toyota C-HR Cusco Racing
2020 Not held
2021 Not held
2022
2023 Indonesia H. Rahmat Hyundai i20 N Rally2 LFN Sederhana Motorsport

Pacific Cup

Season Champion Car Team
2008 Australia Dean Herridge Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cusco Racing
2009 New Zealand Hayden Paddon Subaru Impreza WRX STI
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Team Green
2010 Australia Brendan Reeves Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2011 Australia Chris Atkinson Proton Satria Neo S2000 Proton Motorsport
2012 Australia Chris Atkinson Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2013 Australia Simon Knowles Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
2014 Czech Republic Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2015 Sweden Pontus Tidemand Škoda Fabia S2000 MRF Racing
2016 Germany Fabian Kreim Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2017 Norway Ole Christian Veiby Škoda Fabia R5 MRF Racing
2018 Italy Fabio Frisiero Peugeot 208 AP4
2019 New Zealand Hayden Paddon Hyundai i20 AP4 Paddon Rallysport

Group N

Season Champion Car
1996 Japan Yoshihiro Kataoka Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III
1997 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Proton Wira
1998 Australia Michael Guest Subaru Impreza WRX
1999 Japan Katsuhiko Taguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI
2000 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Proton Pert
2001 Malaysia Karamjit Singh Proton Pert
2002 Italy Nico Caldarola Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
2003 Germany Armin Kremer Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII

2 Litre

Season Champion Car
1996 Japan Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Baleno
Suzuki Swift
1997 Japan Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Baleno
1998 Japan Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Baleno
1999 Sweden Kenneth Eriksson
United Kingdom Alister McRae
Hyundai Coupe
Hyundai Coupe
2000 Australia Simon Evans Volkswagen Golf
2001 Japan Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Ignis
2002 Japan Nobuhiro Tajima Suzuki Ignis

Manufacturers

Season Manufacturer
1996 Japan Mitsubishi
1997 Japan Subaru
1998 Japan Toyota
1999 Japan Mitsubishi
2000 Japan Subaru
2001 Japan Mitsubishi
2002 Malaysia Proton
2003 Japan Mitsubishi
2004 Malaysia Proton
2005 Japan Mitsubishi
2006 Japan Subaru
2007 Japan Subaru
2008 Japan Subaru
2009 Japan Subaru
2010 Japan Mitsubishi
2011 Malaysia Proton
2012 Czech Republic Škoda
2013 Czech Republic Škoda
2014 Czech Republic Škoda
2015 Czech Republic Škoda
2016 Czech Republic Škoda
2017 Czech Republic Škoda
2018 Czech Republic Škoda
2019 No Award

See also

References

  1. ^ "Karna Kadur wins South India Rally". The Times of India. 27 March 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  2. ^ BruceMcK (27 November 2023). "Sungkar and Searcy win 2023 FIA APRC title". FIA APRC. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. ^ "Motorsport Winners".
  4. ^ Shacki. "eWRC-results.com - rally database". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ "APRC History".
  6. ^ Shacki. "Top stats - eWRC-results". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
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