2010 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

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The 2010 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship season is an international rally championship sanctioned by the FIA.

Contents

With four-time champion Cody Crocker no longer contesting the series, it was expected to be a more open championship, and so it has proven. After five rounds of the series 1999 champion Katsuhiko Taguchi holds a three-point lead over fellow Mitsubishi driver Gaurav Gill. Taguchi won the first event of the series at Malaysia and was first registered competitor home in Japan behind veteran campaigner Toshi Arai (Subaru), but disappointing rallies in New Zealand and Australia left his early lead vulnerable. Gill was second in Malaysia and collected the points for third in Japan. Gill broke through for a points win at the Rally of Queensland, finishing over two minutes behind overall event winner, Australian Rally Championship competitor, Simon Evans (Subaru).

Subaru driver Rifat Sungkar got his breakthrough points win at the New Caledonia rally, finishing second behind Pacific Cup registered racer Brendan Reeves (Subaru), putting the Indonesian driver in a clear third.

The only factory team in the series the Proton R3 Malaysia Rally Team, entered a pair of S2000 class Proton Satrias for former WRC drivers Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae. The pair have pushed hard for podium finishes but have had reliability issues developing completely new cars.

With the completion of Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie, the Pacific Cup was completed. Australian driver Brendan Reeves rounded off the competition with an outright win and claiming the Pacific Cup, which takes in the Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia rallies. Reeves scored almost double the points of New Zealand Production World Rally Championship competitor, Hayden Paddon (Mitsubishi). Paddon tied for second with Glen Raymond (Mitsubishi) and Brian Green.

The Asia Cup still has one round to run, Taguchi leads by two points over Gill with Hiroshi Yanagisawa third also in a Mitsubishi.

Race calendar and results

The 2010 APRC was as follows: [1]

RoundDateEventLocationWinner
1April 24–25 Malaysian Rally Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia Flag of Japan.svg Katsuhiko Taguchi
2May 22–23 Rally Hokkaido Flag of Japan.svg Hokkaidō, Japan Flag of Japan.svg Toshi Arai* [2]
3July 3–4 Rally of Whangarei Flag of New Zealand.svg Whangarei, New Zealand Flag of New Zealand.svg Hayden Paddon
4July 31–August 1 Rally Queensland Flag of Australia (converted).svg Imbil, Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Simon Evans* [3]
5August 28–29 Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie Flag of France.svg Nouméa, New Caledonia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brendan Reeves*
6September 25–26 Rally Indonesia Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia event cancelled [4]
7November 6–7 China Rally Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China Flag of Japan.svg Yuya Sumiyama*

* Not registered for APRC points.

Championship standings

The 2010 APRC for Drivers points was as follows: [5]

PositionDriverVehicleMalaysiaHokkaidoWhangareiQueenslandN.CalédonieChinaTotal
1 Flag of Japan.svg Katsuhiko Taguchi Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 1st (37)1st (37)6th (8)3rd (18)Ret100
2 Flag of India.svg Gaurav Gill Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2nd (26)3rd (23)7th (11)1st (37)DNSRet97
3 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Alister McRae Proton Satria Neo S2000 Ret (7)Ret (3)2nd (26)Ret (5)1st (40)81
4 Flag of Indonesia.svg Rifat Sungkar Subaru Impreza WRX
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
3rd (20)5th (10)Ret1st (39)Ret (2)71
5 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Atkinson Proton Satria Neo S2000 4th (15)RetRet (7)2nd (26)48
6 Flag of New Zealand.svg Hayden Paddon Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 1st (39)39
7 Flag of Japan.svg Hiroshi Yanagisawa Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret2nd (26)Ret (7)33
8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glen Raymond Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2nd (24)24
9 Flag of France.svg Alain Dalstein Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 2nd (24)24
10 Flag of New Zealand.svg Dean Sumner Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3rd (20)20
11 Flag of France.svg Stephane Lechanteur-Socci Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3rd (19)19
12 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wei Hongjie Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 3rd (17)17
13 Flag of Japan.svg Yuya Sumiyama Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 4th (16)16
14 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Liu Caodong Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 4th (15)15
15 Flag of New Zealand.svg Sloan Cox Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 4th (14)14
16 Flag of Japan.svg Fuyuhiko Takahashi Subaru Impreza WRX STI 5th (10)10
16 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Li Wei Subaru Impreza WRX STI 5th (10)10
18 Flag of France.svg Alexis Barbou Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Ret (5)5
18 Flag of France.svg Steeve Octobon Subaru Impreza WRX STI Ret (5)5
20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brendan Reeves Subaru Impreza WRX STI Ret (2)2
20 Flag of New Zealand.svg Ben Jagger Subaru Impreza WRX Ret (2)2
20 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Xu Jun Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret (2)2
23 Flag of Japan.svg Satoru Ito Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX Ret (1)1

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References

  1. "2010 Events Calendar". FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Archived from the original on 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
  2. "Home".
  3. "Home".
  4. Wade, Giles (2010-08-26). "Rally Indonesia cancelled, APRC reduced to six rounds". MaxRally. Mediatica. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-08.
  5. "2010 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2010-11-22.