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 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-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. 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.
List of events Sourced from: EventYears active Rally New Zealand1988–2000 Malaysian Rally 1988–1998, 2000–2001, 2005–2019 Himalayan Rally 1988–1990 Rally Australia1988–1998 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 Canberra1999–2008, 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 Whangarei2007–present International Rally of Queensland2009–2016 Rally of India2015–present International Rally of Otago2019–present
APRC Champions Sourced from: Season DriverCo-driver CarTeam 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—2021Not held due to COVID-19 pandemic 2022 Hayden Paddon John Kennard Hyundai i20 AP4 Hyundai New Zealand2023 Rifat Sungkar Ben SearcyŠkoda Fabia R5/Rally2 evoLFN Sederhana Motorsport2024 Hayden Paddon Jared HudsonHyundai i20 N Rally2
Asia Cup Season Champion Car Team 2008 Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team 2009 Cody Crocker Subaru Impreza WRX STIMotor Image Rally Team 2010 Yūya Sumiyama Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2011 Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000Proton Motorsport 2012 Yūya Sumiyama Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2013 Michael Young Toyota VitzCusco Racing 2014 Yuya Sumiyama Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2015 Hitoshi Takayama Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2016 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia R5MRF Racing 2017 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia R5MRF Racing 2018 Yūya Sumiyama Škoda Fabia R5Cusco Racing 2019 Michael Young Toyota C-HR Cusco Racing 2020 Not held 2021 2022 2023 Rahmat Hyundai i20 N Rally2LFN Sederhana Motorsport
Pacific Cup Season Champion Car Team 2008 Dean Herridge Subaru Impreza WRX STI Cusco Racing 2009 Hayden Paddon Subaru Impreza WRX STIMitsubishi 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 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 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 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 Middle East Rally Championship Asia Road Racing Championship
References
External links Official website APRC Live Podcast APRC News and Video FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship