Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

FIA regional rally championship

Asia-Pacific Rally ChampionshipCountry| Asia
Oceania

|

Inaugural season| 1988
Drivers' champion|  NZL Hayden Paddon
Official website| fiaaprc.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

[edit]

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 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

[edit]

Sourced from:[3][4]

Event  | Years Active

|

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

## APRC Champions

[edit]

Sourced from:[5][6]

Season  | Driver  | Co-driver  | Car  | Team

|
|
|
|

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

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

### Asia Cup

[edit]

Season  | Champion  | Car  | Team

|
|
|

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

### Pacific Cup

[edit]

Season  | Champion  | Car  | Team

|
|
|

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

### Group N

[edit]

Season  | Champion  | Car

|
|

1996 |  Yoshihiro Kataoka | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III
1997 |  Karamjit Singh | Proton Wira
1998 |  Michael Guest | Subaru Impreza WRX
1999 |  Katsuhiko Taguchi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI
2000 |  Karamjit Singh | Proton Pert
2001 |  Karamjit Singh | Proton Pert
2002 |  Nico Caldarola | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII
2003 |  Armin Kremer | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII

### 2 Litre

[edit]

Season  | Champion  | Car

|
|

1996 |  Nobuhiro Tajima | Suzuki Baleno
Suzuki Swift
1997 |  Nobuhiro Tajima | Suzuki Baleno
1998 |  Nobuhiro Tajima | Suzuki Baleno
1999 |  Kenneth Eriksson
Alister McRae | Hyundai Coupe
Hyundai Coupe
2000 |  Simon Evans | Volkswagen Golf
2001 |  Nobuhiro Tajima | Suzuki Ignis
2002 |  Nobuhiro Tajima | Suzuki Ignis

### Manufacturers

[edit]

Season  | Manufacturer

|

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
2019  | No Award

## See also

[edit]

* Middle East Rally Championship
* Asia Road Racing Championship

## References

[edit]

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.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* APRC Live Podcast
* APRC News and Video
* FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

* v
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Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
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