The 2013 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship season is an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA. The championship is contested by a combination of regulations with Group N competing directly against Super 2000 cars for points. A new rally was added to the calendar, the first since Rally of Queensland in 2009, in the Thailand Rally.
Indian driver Gaurav Gill won the Asian-Pacific championship after many years in the series. Gill won the championship despite his Finnish team mate Esapekka Lappi winning more events. Gill wrapped the title up early as the only rival outside of the Team MRF squad, Subaru driver Sanjay Takle, did not attend the final round at the China Rally.
Australian driver Simon Knowles won the Pacific Cup held over the three Pacific ocean events. The Asia Cup was held over three of the four Asian events, with the China Rally being left out in favour of candidate rally, the Thailand Rally. The Asia Cup was won by New Zealand driver Michael Young.
Race calendar and results
The 2013 APRC is as follows: Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers 1 International Rally of Whangarei(18–19 May) 1 Hayden Paddon Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 2:47:48.4 16288.16 km 52 282 Esapekka Lappi Škoda Fabia S2000 2:51:18.33 Richard Mason Subaru Impreza WRX 2:51:54.0 2 Rallye de Nouvelle-Calédonie(14–16 June) 1 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia S2000 1:57:12.317236.59 km218 2 Emmanuel Guigou Renault Clio R3 2:05:07.6 3 Eugène Creugnet Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII 2:14:31.7 3 International Rally of Queensland(13–14 July) 1 Eli Evans Honda Jazz 2:07:51.0 21214.06 km 57 36 2 Esapekka Lappi Škoda Fabia S2000 2:08:43.8 3 Tom Wilde Renault Clio R3 2:10:37.6 4 Malaysian Rally(24–25 August) 1 Fan Fan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:14:29.6 15219.90 km 34 21 2 Shuhei Muta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:16:37.3 3 Daniel Palau Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:18:24.1 5 Rally Hokkaido(28–29 September) 1 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia S2000 2:26:26.2 18232.32 km 81 41 2 Norihiko Katsuta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2:27:03.2 3 Fumio Nutahara Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 2:27:04.2 6 China Rally(2–3 November) 1 Esapekka Lappi Škoda Fabia S2000 3:01:46.9 13230.92 km 72 22 2 Niall McShea Škoda Fabia S2000 3:05:06.4 3 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia S2000 3:07:24.3 7 Thailand Rally(7–8 December) 1 Daniel Palau Subaru Impreza WRX STi 3:06:31.7 13 229.80 km 14 5 2 Wittaya Ruegchan Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3:12:38.8 3 Michael Young Toyota Vitz 3:20:25.7
Championship standings The 2013 APRC for Drivers points is as follows: Position Driver Vehicle NZL NCL AUS MAL JPN CHN Total 1 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia S2000 2 12 1 10.5 Ret 6 Ret 7 1 14 2 10145.5 2 Esapekka Lappi Škoda Fabia S2000 1 14 Ret 1 14 Ret Ret 1 14117 3 Sanjay Takale Subaru Impreza WRX STi 4 7 2 9 2 11 Ret 2 11104 4 Michael Young Toyota Vitz 3 9 Ret 4 1 13 3 1192 5 Hiroshi Asakura Subaru Impreza WRX STI Proton Satria Neo Ret 5 3 8 Ret 5 4 853 Note: 1 – 12 refers to the bonus points awarded for each leg of the rally for the first five place getters, 1st (7), 2nd (5), 3rd (3), 4th (2), 5th (1). There are two bonus legs for each rally.
Pacific Cup Position Driver Vehicle NZL NCL AUS Total 1 Simon Knowles Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 4 8 2 9 1 1385 2 Gaurav Gill Škoda Fabia S2000 1 14 1 10.5 Ret 771.5 3 Matt van Tuinen Subaru Impreza WRX STI 2 12 Ret30 4 Bruce Fullerton Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3 10 Ret25 5 Claude Clavel Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Ret 3 Ret3
Asia Cup Position Driver Vehicle MAL JPN THA Total 1 Michael Young Toyota Vitz 2 10 5 8 1 1182 2 Shuhei Muta Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1 13 2 12 Ret 68 3 Yuya Sumiyama Subaru Impreza WRX STI Ret 7 1 14 Ret 753 4 Tomohide Hasegawa Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 4 6 4 8 Ret 543 5 Chaiyan Longton Suzuki Swift 3 10 Ret Ret 530 6 Sanjay Takale Subaru Impreza WRX STi Ret 3 8 Ret 629 7 Hiroshi Asakura Proton Satria Neo Ret 4 6 416
References
External links Official website APRC Live Podcast APRC News and Video