ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC

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ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY
CHAMPIONSHIP 2018
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
2018 Calendar                              The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship is spread through a diverse range of
                                                                       countries, climates, cultures and a huge population base of over 2.5 billion people.
05 - 06 May         New Zealand    APRC     Pacific Cup   Junior Cup
02 - 03 June        Australia      APRC     Pacific Cup   Junior Cup   In 2018 six events make up the championship starting in New Zealand with the fast
                                                                       and smooth roads of Rally of Whangarei, followed by Australia’s Rally of Canberra
21 - 22 July        Malaysia       APRC     Asia Cup      Junior Cup   based in the nation’s capital city.
15 - 16 September   Japan          APRC     Asia Cup      Junior Cup
                                                                       The APRC then heads to Malaysia to the very hot and humid Rally of Johor, then
21 - 22 October     China          APRC     Asia Cup                   North to the fast forestry roads of Rally Hokkaido, Japan.
01 - 02 December    India          APRC     Asia Cup
                                                                       Next is the China Rally and a return to the mountain roads around the city of
                                                                       Longyou, 400 kilometres south-west of Shanghai.

                                                                       The finale is once again the Coffee Day India Rally, held on the plantations roads
                                                                       of Chikmagalur in South India.

                                                                       For 2018, competitors will now nominate a Championship or Cup, rather than indi-
                                                                       vidual rallies. Points will only be scored at nominated Championship rallies, with no
                                                                       penalties imposed for any rallies that are missed.

                                                                       More information at www.fiaaprc.com or contact APRC Coordinator Murray Brown.

                                                                                       2018 is a milestone year for the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champi-
                                                                                       onship, the 30th anniversary for the championship that’s been
                                                                                       running since 1988. To mark the occasion many of the photos
                                                                                       used in the 2018 APRC brochure feature former champions or
                                                                                       special moments in APRC history. The photo on this page is
                                                                                       4-times APRC Champion Cody Crocker at 2007 Malaysian Rally.

                                                                                                                                           Malaysia
                                                                                                                          Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
New Zealand                                              Skoda has supported the APRC since 2012 and in 2013 Esapekka
                                                         Lappi from Finland drove for the team – the first of many Euro-
                                                         pean Skoda drivers. Lappi was followed by Jan Kopecky (Czech
                                                         Republic), Pontus Tidemand (Sweden), Fabien Kreim (Germany)
                       Whangarei                         and in 2017 Ole Christian Veiby (Norway). 2013 was the first year
                              Auckland                   of a multi-year partnership with Wurth.

Date: 05 - 06 May 2018
Location: Whangarei
Population: 4 . 7 million
Nearest International Airport: Auckland 2.5 hours
Website: www.rallywhangarei.co.nz
Average temperature: 12°C - 19°C
Description: The ultimate driver’s rally. Smooth, fast
cambered roads, many previously used by the WRC.

Photo: Ross Hyde
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
Australia

                                                                                                             Brisbane
                                                                                                             Sydney
                                                                                                      Canberra

                                                                      Date: 02 - 03 June 2018
                                                                      Location: Canberra, ACT
                                                                      Population: 24.1 million
                                                                      Nearest International Airport: Canberra
                                                                      Website: www.nationalcapitalrally.com.au
                                                                      Average temperature (June): 12°C
                                                                      Description: Australia’s National Capital, Canberra,
                                                                      is host to the sweeping dusty roads of the nearby
                                                                      Cotter and Kowen forests.

Canberra Rally 2007. Australian Cody Crocker is the only driver
to have won the APRC Drivers championship four times (2006 –
2009). Other drivers were equally as fast, but Crocker’s secret was
his ability to finish even when the conditions were atrocious such
as China Rally 2007 when he was one of only two competitors to
complete the event.                                                                                      Photo: Hiroshi Seiki
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
Malaysia
         Kuala Lumpur
            Johor Bahru

Date: 21 - 22 July 2018
Location: Johor Bahru
Population: 28 million
Nearest International Airport: Singapore 1.5 hours
Kuala Lumpur International Airport: 4 hours
Website: www.malaysianrally.com
Average temp: 30°C and 95% humidity
Description: The heat and humidity make this event one
of the most challenging of the championship. Great
location just across the cause-way from Singapore.

         New Zealander Possum Bourne, driving a Subaru, won the APRC
         drivers championship 3 times in 1993, 1994 and 2000. His co-driver
         for the 2000 APRC was Mark Stacey who currently works as team co-
         ordinator for the MRF Skoda team. This is Bourne and Stacey on the
         2000 Rally of Malaysia.                                              Photos: Asia Pacific Sports Media
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
Japan
                                                   The 2004 Rally Hokkaido doubled as an APRC and World Rally
                                                   Championship (WRC) event and Australian Chris Atkinson raised a
                                                   few eyebrows with top ten stage times in the WRC and led the APRC
                                                   race for several stages before a puncture lost him time to eventual
            Obihiro                                winner Karamjit Singh. Atkinson’s giant-killing performance in Japan
                                                   launched his WRC career with Subaru in 2005. Atkinson driving for
                                                   MRF Skoda won the drivers championship in 2012.

                         Tokyo

Date: 15 - 16 September 2018
Location: Obihiro, Hokkaido
Population: 127 million
Nearest International Airport: Sapporo
Website: www.rally-hokkaido.com
Average temperature: 15°C
Description: Fanatical fans on fast and narrow
roads with a soft-base that can to turns to deep
ruts on the second pass.

                                                                                     Photos: Asia Pacific
                                                                                                     Photo:
                                                                                                          Sports
                                                                                                            Ross Media
                                                                                                                  Hyde
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
China                                                      Proton launched their S2000 Satria in 2009 at the Rally of Indonesia.
                                                           Alister McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes won the final event of 2011
                                                           APRC, the China Rally to secure the drivers and co-drivers champion-
                                                           ship plus the coveted Manufacturers title for Proton.

                                  Shanghai
           Longyou

Date: 21 - 22 October 2018
Location: Longyou, Zhejiang Province
Population: 1 . 4 billion
Nearest International Airports: Shanghai, or Hangzhou
Website: www.autosports.org.cn
Average temperature: 15°C - 22°C
Description: Bamboo Forests and Mountains.
Road Surface: Hard gravel base with some concrete roads.

                                                                                              PHOTO: Asia Pacific Sports Media
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
India
                          India

              New Delhi

          Mumbai

             Chikmagalur

  Date: 01 - 02 December 2018
  Location: Chikmagalur
  In the foothills of the World famous Western Ghats.
  Coordinates: 13.32°N 75.77°E
  Population: 1.2 billion
  Nearest Intl Airport: Bengaluru (Bangalore), 5 hours.
  Website: www.mscc.org.in
  Average temperature: 30°C
  Description: Gravel and dirt roads held on a huge
  coffee plantation with the colours and cuisine of
  India.

                                                          The 2003 India Rally held in Pune, was the first of many champion-
                                                          ship titles won by the MRF Tyres team. Considering the team and
                                                          the tyres had only been competing for one year it was a remarkable
                                                          achievement and has been followed by eight further driver, team and
Photos: Asia Pacific Sports Media                         manufacturer titles.
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
Competitor Information
FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship                                                                 APRC Teams Trophy
The Premier FIA Championship of the APRC, this championship has been contested                      The Teams Trophy has provided an opportunity for teams to contest an APRC regional
since 1988.                                                                                         trophy alongside the overall APRC championship. Details can be found in 2018 FIA Reg-
                                                                                                    ulations (APRC) or by contacting APRC Coordinator Murray Brown.
The winning driver and codriver are expected to attend the FIA Gala at the end of the
year to receive the FIA APRC Champions trophies.                                                    FIA APRC 3 Championship (formerly 2WD Cup)
At time of registration, drivers must nominate which Championships or Cups they wish                This championship replaces the previous 2WD Cup and is open to all drivers of 2WD cars
to score points at. Points are only awarded to APRC registered drivers and codrivers for            for all 6 rallies of APRC. As for APRC 2 Championship (above) there will be APRC 3 Cups
rallies in the Championship or Cup that is nominated.                                               for each of the Asia and Pacific Championships.

FIA APRC 2 Championship (formerly Production Cup)                                                   FIA Asia Pacific Rally Cup powered by Würth.
Open to all FIA homologated Group N cars. These are cars based on standard produc-                  This is a competition open to ALL drivers in the international event (including non-regis-
tion models as homologated by the FIA. This championship provides for competitors                   tered APRC drivers and co-drivers) and there is a podium presentation for the top-three
who wish to continue to run their existing Gp N cars (including ASN cars approved by                drivers in the international event where Wurth prizes are presented to the overall winner,
the APRC executive) and compete with similar cars for the FIA APRC 2 Championship.                  2nd and 3rd overall.

It is a FIA sanctioned championship aimed at competitors without the need to invest in
the more competitive purpose built class cars. The FIA APRC 2 Championship will be                                 All details and eligibility requirements can be found in the
contested over the 6 rallies of APRC. There will be an APRC 2 Cup for each of the Asia                  2018 FIA Regulations (APRC) or by contacting APRC Coordinator Murray Brown.
and Pacific Championships.

FIA APRC Asia and Pacific Cups
The Asia and Pacific Cups are separate competitions within the APRC that allows
teams/drivers to compete at events in either region. For Pacific Cup, competitors may
compete in the 2 Pacific rallies. Asia Cup will feature 4 events - teams can compete in
up to 4 rallies, the best 3 results will count to the final standings. It is possible to register
for the APRC and one of the Cups.

FIA APRC Junior Championship
The Junior Championship provides an opportunity for young drivers from anywhere in
the world to compete in a shorter series of FIA sanctioned events in either 2WD or 4WD
cars (excluding ASN, R5 and S2000) - the ideal class being NR4 . Junior Championship
competitors compete in four FIA APRC rallies: New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and
Japan. Minimum qualification is one rally in the Pacific and one in the Asia region. Lim-
ited to drivers aged 28 years old or younger as at 1 January 2018.
                                                                                                                 Karamjit Singh and co-driver Allen Oh were APRC champions three
                                                                                                                 times for Proton in 2001, 2002 and 2004. They were the inaugural
                                                                                                                 winners of the FIA Production (Group N) World Rally Championship in
                                                                                                                 2002. This is Singh and Oh on the 2002 China Rally.
                                                                                                                                                      Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media
ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 - FIA APRC
Coordinated Logistics
Even though the championship is held over such a large geographic area, the logistics
of shipping cars and equipment are surprisingly easy when all shipping is handled by
APRC coordinator Murray Brown – who performs a dual role as logistics coordinator
and competitor liaison representative at all events and Working Group meetings. Co-
ordinated shipping means that all containers arrive and depart at the same time – with
considerable savings for all teams.

Based on 2016/2017 costs, the average shipping budget for a team utilizing a 40’ SOC
container for the whole championship (six events) is US$54,000 for ocean freight, do-
mestic transport and logistics. Assistance and advice will be given on other aspects
including air freight, customs clearance, documentation, insurance and local assistance.

Shipping from home port to first event, and return to home port after last event, can
easily be arranged. Where possible all containers and equipment are handled as one
import and export providing a cost effective, efficient logistics solution.

              2004 China Rally was a one-off visit to Huizhou City an event won
              by MRF Mitsubishi driver Katsu Taguchi. However, the highlight for
              everyone was the interesting logistic arrangements on Day 1.                                       China
                                                                                           Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media
Eligibility of Cars
The APRC has been authorised to approve eligible cars, that meet specific criteria,
under the National Car Approval process. This is in addition to cars that comply with
the JAF RJ, CAMS & MSNZ AP4 regulations and maxi cars already locally homolo-
gated in Argentina.

With the growing manufacturer and consumer interest in alternative fuel cars, the
APRC has introduced a class of cars for Alternative Energy Vehicles (AEV).

New for 2018 is a class of competition for Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) or Crossover
vehicles. Such vehicles will be eligible under the APRC National Car Approval process
(ASN) and will have a separate competition designated as SUV.

Application for approval of these cars can be made via the secretariat and further
details are available in the 2018 RRSR (V4 – APRC) or from:
Murray Brown, APRC Coordinator: murray.brown@fiaaprc.com
or APRC Secretariat: aprcsecretariat@cams.com.au

                                                                                              New Caledonia
                                                                                        Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media
Television and Media
E ach event in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship receives extensive international televi-
sion and media coverage.

On-Event television news feeds and a dedicated TV series distributed worldwide ensures
the APRC is seen by TV viewers in over 118 countries with a measured global annual audi-
ence of 463 million households.

Broadcasters include FOX Sports Asia (STAR Sports in China) and Australia, SONY TEN
Sports India, Outdoor Channel Asia, Guangdong TV China and Motorsport-TV Europe.

APRC social media channels include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

APRC Social Media Fan Base:
Facebook: India : 40%, Indonesia : 32.3%, Malaysia: 7.3%, Australia : 4.3%, Sri Lanka: 4.2%.
YouTube: Malaysia: 21%, India: 16%, Indonesia: 15%, Japan:13%, Australia:4%.
Twitter:  India: 22%, Japan:13%, Australia:12%, UK: 8%, Spain: 4%, NZ: 4%, USA: 4%.

APRC Facebook 2017: 115,000+ Fans across three pages, average of 39,459 views per
video clip.

APRC YouTube 2017: 169,000 views, 410,000 minutes, average duration 2.25 minutes.

In 2015 an independent TV evaluation report was generated by Repucom Asia, a company
owned by Neilson Holdings. Repucom calculated the average advertising costs for each
of the APRC TV broadcasters, applied a QI media value of 26.65% of the full value and
established that each second of the APRC TV series has an advertising value of US$741/
second when spread across all the networks. Copies of the Repucom Exposure Analysis
report are available on request.

                       Further details are available at www.aprc.tv

                                                                                                    Malaysia
                                                                                               Photo: Mitsuru Kotake
Würth – APRC Partnership
                     Würth: 		          Global headquarters in Germany
                     Industry		         Fasteners, chemicals, safety products, tools
                     Products           125,000
                     Founded		          1945
                     Headquarters       Künzelsau, Germany
                     Revenue		          € 11.8 bn
                     Employees          72,000 (2017)
                     Website		          www.wuerth.com

                     The long-term and very successful partnership between Würth and the FIA Asia Pacific
                     Rally Championship (APRC) that began in 2013, will continue in 2018 with an option for
                     2019 and beyond. Würth is a global company headquartered in Germany selling over
                     125,000 products from tools to technical chemicals.

                     At each event Würth supplies teams with a large selection of its technical chemicals
                     and supports the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Cup powered by Würth – a competition open to
                     ALL drivers in the international events with a podium presentation for 1st, 2nd and 3rd
                     competitors.

                     Serge Oppedisano, CEO for Würth Australia & New Zealand and Member of the Asia
                     Pacific Strategy Board for the Würth Group:
                      “The relationship we share with the APRC is one that we value highly. It allows us to lo-
                     cally, reach a large portion of end users and customers and showcase what Würth can
                     deliver in terms of its high-quality products and systems in a tough and often challeng-
                     ing environment. Our passion for all forms of Motorsport has been one that we have
                     enjoyed for many years and the FIA APRC is a great backdrop for our local Asia Pacific
                     market.”

                     Lane Heenan, CEO Racetorque Engineering / MRF Skoda team:
                     “The continued Würth support to the APRC is fantastic news for competitors. It is a per-
Australia            fect match really, we get great products to use and to show case them in the toughest
Photo:Geoff Ridder   conditions”.
Former APRC drivers in the World Rally Championship
“Competing in the APRC was a big help”.
                                                                                                                                                 Australia
                                                                                                                                Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media

Former APRC and MRF Skoda driver Esapekka Lappi got his WRC career off to an epic
start by winning his home event the Rally of Finland for the new Toyota Gazoo Rally
Team.

At the final round of the 2017 World Rally Championship, held in Coff’s Harbour
Australia Lappi talked about how competing in the 2013 FIA Asia Pacific Rally
Championship (APRC) helped him in the early stages of his rally career “First
of all it was a big help to get used to the time difference, to learn how to re-
cover as fast as possible and the second was the surface - every event
was on gravel but the surface was different in every rally. And this event
in Australia, we did one event in Queensland and OK its different but it
helps, I think it’s a good series for sure.

Lappi’s team boss is Tommi Makinen, a four-times World
Rally Champion.

Makinen competed in the 1995 and ’96 APRC for the
works supported Mitsubishi team and has good mem-
ories of competing in the APRC. The Finnish driver is
confident the experience he gained was instrumental in
building him into a complete driver “I remember 1995
when I started my career for Mitsubishi it was a real-
ly big help for me as we did all Asia-Pacific rounds. In
1996 when I won my first (World) title, competing in the
APRC that same year was a big help.

In his new role as team principal for the Japanese Toy-
ota Gazoo Rally Team, Makinen finds those earlier years
of competition a great source of information. “it certainly helps
when we are competing in these regions to have an idea of what
 you need and what the conditions are going to be like, especially
 when we are not able to do any testing in any events outside Europe.
 Australia is an important market for Toyota and of course it would be good to
 have more (WRC) events in Asia and of Japan would be one of those”.

Makinen feels that competing in the APRC has really benefited Lappi “Rallying is really dif-
ficult when you are fighting to go fastest, you need to understand every little detail, how
to drive in different conditions and handle the different grip, so many different elements.
If you know it and familiar with it already, it’s a big help’.
                                                                                               Tommi Makinen   Esapekka Lappi       Victory in 2013 APRC
2018 is a milestone year for the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, the 30th
                                                             anniversary for the championship that has been running since 1988.
         APRC Championship Winners - Drivers
                                                             The idea of a Pacific Rim championship had been on the drawing board since the
  1988     Kenjiro Shinozuka   Japan            Mitsubishi   1970’s however it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that the climate was ripe for such a
  1989     Rod Millen          New Zealand      Mazda        series. Japan had become a world leader in automotive manufacturing, and an
  1990     Carlos Sainz        Spain            Toyota       established player in international rallying. Economic prosperity in Asia opened
  1991     Ross Dunkerton      Australia        Mitsubishi   up new marketing opportunities throughout the region, and with the wealth came
  1992     Ross Dunkerton      Australia        Mitsubishi   a growing number of drivers from countries such as Indonesia, Singapore and
  1993     Possum Bourne       New Zealand      Subaru       Malaysia.
  1994     Possum Bourne       New Zealand      Subaru
  1995     Kenneth Eriksson    Sweden           Mitsubishi   First held in 1988, the debut series included events in Australia, New Zealand,
  1996     Kenneth Eriksson    Sweden           Subaru       India and Malaysia, and was won by Japanese driver Kenjiro Shinozuka in his
` 1997     Kenneth Eriksson    Sweden           Subaru       Mitsubishi. His success ensured a high profile for the series in Japan and Mazda
  1998     Yoshio Fujimoto     Japan            Toyota       gave Californian based Kiwi Rod Millen the nod to run a 323 4WD on its behalf,
  1999     Katsuhiko Taguchi   Japan            Mitsubishi   winning the title in 1989.
  2000     Possum Bourne       New Zealand      Subaru
                                                             The series went from strength to strength, by the mid 1990’s second only to
  2001     Karamjit Singh      Malaysia         Proton
                                                             the world championship in stature, attracting full factory teams from Mitsubishi,
  2002     Karamjit Singh      Malaysia         Proton
                                                             Subaru, Toyota and drivers the calibre of Colin McRae and Kenneth Eriksson, the
  2003     Armin Kremer        Germany          Mitsubishi
                                                             latter taking the title three times from 1995-97.
  2004     Karamjit Singh      Malaysia         Proton
  2005     Jussi Valimaki      Finland          Mitsubishi
                                                             The growing Asian automotive industry had also become involved – Proton from
  2006     Cody Crocker        Australia        Subaru
                                                             Malaysia, Hyundai and KIA from Korea.
  2007     Cody Crocker        Australia        Subaru
  2008     Cody Crocker        Australia        Subaru
                                                             That increased influence from Asia has continued into the 21st century and one
  2009     Cody Crocker        Australia        Subaru
                                                             where the series has been dominated by Indian tyre manufacturer MRF and
  2010     Katsu Taguchi       Japan            Mitsubishi
                                                             lately by Indian driver Gaurav Gill.
  2011     Alister McRae       United Kingdom   Proton
  2012     Chris Atkinson      Australia        Skoda
                                                             Text from “The New Zealand Rally – Celebrating 25 Years”, by David Thomson.
  2013     Gaurav Gill         India            Skoda
  2014     Jan Kopecky         Czech Republic   Skoda
  2015     Pontus Tidemand     Sweden           Skoda
  2016     Gaurav Gill         India             Skoda
  2017     Gaurav Gill         India            Skoda

                                                                                                         1995 Rally of Malaysia
                                                                                                              Photo: Asia Pacpfpc Sports Media
Ole Christian Veiby and Stig Rune Skjærmoen (Norway)    Gaurav Gill (India) and Stephan Prevot (Belgium)          Robert Blomberg and Lars Andersson (Sweden)
Second Overall Drivers/Co-drivers and WÜRTH Cup      FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers/Co-drivers    Third Overall Drivers/Co-drivers and WÜRTH Cup
FIA APRC Pacific Cup for Drivers and Co-drivers            FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Cup powered by WÜRTH
                                                                                                                         PG Abhilash and Srikanth Gowda (India)
                                                           FIA APRC Asia Cup for Drivers and Co-drivers
                                                                                                                    FIA APRC Production Cup for Drivers/Co-drivers
                                                        FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Cup for Manufacturers (Skoda)
                                                                                                                               FIA APRC 2 Pacific Cup for Drivers
Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media                    Asia-Pacific Rally Championship - Teams Trophy (Team MRF)                            Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media
                                                                                                                            (equal with Fuyuhiko   Takahashi    Japan)
                                                    APRC 2017 CATEGORY WINNERS
APRC Secretariat                                                APRC Coordinator and Shipping
Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd                                          Murray Bown
851 Dandenong Road                                            FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship
Malvern East, VIC 3145, Australia                               Countdown Motorsport Logistics
Tel: +61 3 9593 7722                                                     Mob: +63 908 310 5888
Email: aprcsecretariat@cams.com.au                            Email: murray.brown@fiaaprc.com

www.fiaaprc.tv                          Television & Media
                                                                     www.aprc.tv
                                             Brian Young
                                            APRC.TV Ltd
                                        Tel: +64 7 315 7877
                                       Mob: +64 29 315 7877
                                       Email: brian@aprc.tv

                 One of the most iconic and picturesque Pacific events was Rally New
                 Caledonia, sadly no longer part of the APRC calendar. This is MRF Mit-
                 subishi driver Katsu Taguchi from Japan crossing a large river in 2004.
                 Taguchi was APRC champion in 1999 and 2010
                 BackCover: Ross Hyde                                        Front Cover: APSM
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