Asia-Pacific Rally Championship Explained

Country/Region:Asia
Oceania
Inaugural2:1988
Champion Driver: Hayden Paddon
Current Season:2023 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
Website:fiaaprc.com

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.

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]

EventYears Active
Rally New Zealand1988–2000
1988–1998, 2000–2001, 2005–present
1988–1990
Rally Australia1988–1998
1989–1997, 2000, 2005–2009, 2019, 2022–present
1992–2003, 2005, 2013
1994–1996
1997–2002, 2004–present
Rally of Canberra1999–2008, 2017
2001–2002, 2004–2016
2001–2006
2002–present
2003–2004
International Rally of Whangarei2007–present
International Rally of Queensland2009–2016
Rally of India2015–present
International Rally of Otago2019–present

APRC Champions

Sourced from:[5] [6]

SeasonDriverCo-driverCarTeam
1988 Kenjiro Shinozuka Fred GocentasMitsubishi Galant VR-4
1989 Rod Millen Tony SircombeMazda 323 4WD
1990 Carlos Sainz Luis MoyaToyota Celica GT-Four ST165Toyota Team Europe
1991 Ross Dunkerton Fred GocentasMitsubishi Galant VR-4
1992 Ross Dunkerton Fred GocentasMitsubishi Galant VR-4Mitsubishi Ralliart
1993 Possum Bourne Rodger FreethSubaru Legacy RSSubaru 555 World Rally Team
1994 Possum Bourne Tony SircombeSubaru Impreza 555Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1995 Kenneth Eriksson Staffan ParmanderMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IIIMitsubishi Ralliart
1996 Kenneth Eriksson Staffan ParmanderSubaru Impreza 555Subaru 555 World Rally Team
1997 Kenneth Eriksson Staffan ParmanderSubaru Impreza WRCSubaru 555 World Rally Team
1998 Yoshio Fujimoto Tony SircombeToyota Corolla WRCTein Sport
1999 Katsuhiko Taguchi Ron TeohMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIMitsubishi Ralliart Malaysia
2000 Possum Bourne Mark StaceySubaru Impreza WRX / Subaru Impreza S4 WRCPossum Bourne Motorsport
2001 Karamjit Singh Allen OhProton PERTProton Eon Rally Team
2002 Karamjit Singh Allen OhProton PERTProton Eon Rally Team
2003 Armin Kremer Fred BerssenMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIMRF Racing
2004 Karamjit Singh Allen OhProton PERTProton Eon Rally Team
2005 Jussi Välimäki Jarkko KalliolepoMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIIIMRF Racing
2006 Cody Crocker Benjamin AtkinsonSubaru Impreza WRX STILes Walkden Racing
2007 Cody Crocker Benjamin AtkinsonSubaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team
2008 Cody Crocker Benjamin AtkinsonSubaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team
2009 Cody Crocker Benjamin AtkinsonSubaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team
2010 Katsuhiko Taguchi Mark StaceyMitsubishi Lancer Evolution XMRF Racing
2011 Alister McRae Bill HayesProton Satria Neo S2000Proton Motorsport
2012 Chris Atkinson Stéphane PrévotŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2013 Gaurav Gill Glenn MacneallŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2014 Jan Kopecký Pavel DreslerŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2015 Pontus Tidemand Emil AxelssonŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2016 Gaurav Gill Glenn MacneallŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2017 Gaurav Gill Stéphane PrévotŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2018 Yūya Sumiyama Takahiro YasuiŠkoda Fabia R5Cusco Racing
2019 Lin De-wei Le KepengSubaru XVSubaru Rally Team China
2020

2021
Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Hayden Paddon John KennardHyundai i20 AP4Hyundai New Zealand
2023 Rifat Sungkar Ben SearcyŠkoda Fabia R5/Rally2 evoLFN Sederhana Motorsport

Asia Cup

SeasonChampionCarTeam
2008 Cody CrockerSubaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team
2009 Cody CrockerSubaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team
2010 Yūya SumiyamaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution X
2011 Alister McRaeProton Satria Neo S2000Proton Motorsport
2012 Yūya SumiyamaSubaru Impreza WRX STi
2013 Michael YoungToyota VitzCusco Racing
2014 Yuya SumiyamaSubaru Impreza WRX STi
2015 Hitoshi TakayamaSubaru Impreza WRX STi
2016 Gaurav GillŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2017 Gaurav GillŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2018 Yūya SumiyamaŠkoda Fabia R5Cusco Racing
2019 Michael YoungToyota C-HRCusco Racing
2020Not held
2021Not held
2022
2023 H. RahmatHyundai i20 N Rally2LFN Sederhana Motorsport

Pacific Cup

SeasonChampionCarTeam
2008 Dean HerridgeSubaru Impreza WRX STICusco Racing
2009 Hayden PaddonSubaru Impreza WRX STI
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
Team Green
2010 Brendan ReevesSubaru Impreza WRX STI
2011 Chris AtkinsonProton Satria Neo S2000Proton Motorsport
2012 Chris AtkinsonŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2013 Simon KnowlesMitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
2014 Jan KopeckýŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2015 Pontus TidemandŠkoda Fabia S2000MRF Racing
2016 Fabian KreimŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2017 Ole Christian VeibyŠkoda Fabia R5MRF Racing
2018 Fabio FrisieroPeugeot 208 AP4
2019 Hayden PaddonHyundai i20 AP4Paddon Rallysport

Group N

SeasonChampionCar
1996 Yoshihiro KataokaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution III
1997 Karamjit SinghProton Wira
1998 Michael GuestSubaru Impreza WRX
1999 Katsuhiko TaguchiMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI
2000 Karamjit SinghProton Pert
2001 Karamjit SinghProton Pert
2002 Nico CaldarolaMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
2003 Armin KremerMitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII

2 Litre

SeasonChampionCar
1996 Nobuhiro TajimaSuzuki Baleno
Suzuki Swift
1997 Nobuhiro TajimaSuzuki Baleno
1998 Nobuhiro TajimaSuzuki Baleno
1999 Kenneth Eriksson
Alister McRae
Hyundai Coupe
Hyundai Coupe
2000 Simon EvansVolkswagen Golf
2001 Nobuhiro TajimaSuzuki Ignis
2002 Nobuhiro TajimaSuzuki Ignis

Manufacturers

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

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 27 March 2022 . Karna Kadur wins South India Rally . The Times of India . 2023-04-19 . 0971-8257.
  2. Web site: BruceMcK . 27 November 2023 . Sungkar and Searcy win 2023 FIA APRC title . 2024-03-08 . FIA APRC . en-AU.
  3. Web site: Motorsport Winners.
  4. Web site: Shacki . eWRC-results.com - rally database . 2024-03-08 . eWRC-results.com . en.
  5. Web site: APRC History.
  6. Web site: Shacki . Top stats - eWRC-results . 2023-11-06 . eWRC-results.com . en.