Chris Atkinson

Last updated

Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson Hyundai i20 WRC Test 2013 002 (cropped).jpg
Chris Atkinson in 2013
Nationality Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australian
Born (1979-11-30) 30 November 1979 (age 44)
Bega, New South Wales, Australia
Global Rallycross career
Debut season 2016
Current team Subaru Rally Team USA
Car number55
Starts15
Wins0
Podiums2
Best finish7th in 2017
World Rally Championship record
Active years 2004–2009, 2012–2014
Co-driver Flag of Australia (converted).svg Benjamin Atkinson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Macneall
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stéphane Prévot
Teams Subaru World Rally Team, Citroën Junior Team, Monster World Rally Team, WRC Team Mini Portugal, Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT, Hyundai Shell World Rally Team
Rallies77
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums6
Stage wins41
Total points165
First rally 2004 Rally New Zealand
Last rally 2014 Rally Australia

Christopher James Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina. Other podium placings include third-place finishes at the 2005 Rally Japan and the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.

Contents

Atkinson drives for Team MRF, and competed in the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and made a guest appearance in the World Rally Championship. Atkinson won the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. [1]

On 16 August 2012, it was announced that Atkinson would be the number one driver for the WRC Team Mini Portugal outfit for the last five races of the 2012 WRC season. [2]

Early career

Prior to his motorsport career, Atkinson had a career as a stockbroker. He graduated at Bond University in commerce, majoring in finance and accounting in 1999 after receiving an academic scholarship for studies. Atkinson was a co-driver for his brother Ben, but after attending a rally school with his brother, the pair swapped positions, scoring a class win and third overall. [3] [4] Atkinson's brother, Ben Atkinson, is a co-driver for Cody Crocker in APRC.

For his first full season of competition, Atkinson contested the Australian Rally Championship aboard a privately entered Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, finishing inside the top ten in Group N and in the overall top 20 on every round he contested, as well as setting two second-fastest stage times. The Atkinsons finished ninth outright to become Privateer Champions. This performance brought Atkinson to the attention of Suzuki, who offered him the opportunity to drive one of its Super 1600 Ignis models with the Suzuki Sport team in the 2003 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.

WRC career

Atkinson at the 2006 Rally Japan. Chris Atkinson - 2006 Rally Japan.jpg
Atkinson at the 2006 Rally Japan.

Atkinson's first world rally was in 2004 at the Rally New Zealand in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. For 2005, he was signed by Subaru World Rally Team to drive the Subaru Impreza WRC alongside 2003 world champion Petter Solberg. He finished 12th overall in the drivers' world championship with 13 points. His best results were third in Japan and fourth in Australia.

Atkinson at the 2006 Rally Australia. AtkinsonAUS2006.JPG
Atkinson at the 2006 Rally Australia.

After finishing the 2006 season tenth overall in the drivers championship with 20 points and a fourth place as his best finish, Subaru told Atkinson that his job was on the line, and if he could not balance his speed with safety and achieve quality results he would be replaced by another driver.

At the start of the 2007 season Atkinson finished fourth at the 2007 Rally Monte Carlo, recording three stage wins. On the final day of the rally, Atkinson was 0.8 seconds behind fourth place man Mikko Hirvonen and had to beat him in the super special stage, a 2.4 km run through Monaco which uses part of the world-famous Formula One course. Hirvonen set a time of 1:50.9 meaning that Atkinson had to at least set a time of 1:50.1 to beat him, but Atkinson did better and took the stage win with a time of 1:49.9. Hirvonen was the first person over to Atkinson to congratulate him.

At the 2007 Rally Finland, Atkinson posted the fastest time on the short opening super special stage on a horse-racing course at Killeri, to lead the rally for a short time. Atkinson finished the 2007 season seventh overall in the drivers' world championship.

Atkinson at 2008 Rallye Deutschland Chris Atkinson - 2008 Rallye Deutschland.jpg
Atkinson at 2008 Rallye Deutschland

At the beginning of the 2008 season, Atkinson took third place in Monte Carlo; while at the 2008 Corona Rally Mexico, Atkinson managed second, 30 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. He finished the season fifth in the drivers' standings, and for the first time, outscored hitherto team leader Solberg.

After Subaru's season-ending announcement of its withdrawal from the WRC, Atkinson signed for the new Citroën Junior Team for the 2009 season. [5] In his only rally for the season with the team in Ireland, he produced a strong showing to finish fifth, despite colliding with a telegraph pole during the first day, and suffering a spin on SS18.

Re-entry into WRC (2012)

After signing with Monster World Rally Team in 2012, Atkinson raced alongside Ken Block in Mexico. Atkinson won a stage, SS12 – Leon Super Special but finished with a DNF due to mechanical failure.

Atkinson also signed up for a one-off drive in a Citroën DS3 WRC for the Qatar World Rally Team for Rally Finland. [6] However, his medium term WRC future was granted when it was announced he would replace Armindo Araujo as the lead driver for the factory-backed WRC Team MINI Portugal in the last five rallies of the 2012 season. [2]

Atkinson at 2012 Rallye Deutschland 2012 rallye deutschland by 2eight dsc4764.jpg
Atkinson at 2012 Rallye Deutschland

Atkinson contested the last five rounds of the 2012 WRC season with the Motorsport Italia-run MINI squad to finish the year 13th in the Championship. His best result for the year was achieved at Rallye Deutschland (Rally Germany) where he secured 5th behind the wheel of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

Atkinson was snapped up by the Citroën team for 2013, however, the team only used him for Rally Mexico, where he finished 6th, 11 minutes off the winner (Sebastien Ogier). Hyundai hired him mid-year as a test driver for their i20 rally car, which led to a part-time deal for 2014. In 2014 he raced at the rallies of Mexico and his home event in Australia, finishing 7th and 10th respectively. In both events, Atkinson was the last of the Hyundai drivers.

Regional series

In April 2010, Chris Atkinson began a partnership with the Proton R3 Rally Team. Competing in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), Atkinson drove a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, alongside co-driver Stephane Prevot.

After making a guest appearance at the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) Monte Carlo Rally, Atkinson has dominated the 2011 APRC, winning the Malaysian Rally, Rallye de Nouvelle Caledonia and the International Rally of Whangarei. However missing round two in Queensland and the final round in Hokkaido saw him finish second to his teammate Alister McRae who competed in all rounds.

Atkinson competed in an Australian-run Skoda in the 2012 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, driving for the MRF team in a Skoda Fabia S2000, co-driven by regular wingman Stephane Prevot and the pair were crowned 2012 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Champions.

In 2014, Atkinson signed with FAW-VW Rally Team from China. He competed with a S2000 with two rallies. At the end of 2014, with the coming of FAW-FW Golf 7 SCRC, Atkinson restarted his prominence in CRC (China Rally Championship). In the debut of the Golf 7 SCRC, Atko won by 25 mins in the penultimate rally of 2014 CRC in Longyou. And in the Wuyi, the last one, he did not give the champion away. For 2015 and 2016, Atko won 9 of 11 in CRC, defeating the Subaru Rally Team China driver Mark Higgins. However, CRC does not count the points achieved by a foreign driver, or he would surely be the Driver's Champion of CRC in 2015 and 2016.

2015: Guiyang (1st), Zhangye (Ret, Mark Higgins won), Beijing (1st), Dengfeng (1st), Longyou (1st), Wuyi (1st), Jixi (3rd, Jari Ketomaa won)

2016: Dengfeng (1st), Zhangye (1st), Jinzhong (1st), Changchun (1st)

Other racing

At the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2006, Chris made his circuit racing debut driving a Subaru Impreza for the Autosportif Racing UK placing second in class. [7] From that lead a drive in the 2007 Bathurst 12 Hour again in a Subaru Impreza where he finished first in class and second outright. In 2009 he competed in the third round of the Australian Mini Challenge co-driving with two-time Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Champion Steve Owen finishing second in the 30-minute endurance race. [8]

Atkinson competed in the final four rounds of the 2016 Global RallyCross Championship, finishing the championship in 11th in a campaign that included a finals appearance in Seattle. He is likely to stay in rallycross for 2017, whether it be in the GRC or the World Rallycross Championship.

Complete WRC results

YearEntrantCar12345678910111213141516WDCPoints
2004 Chris Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI MON SWE MEX NZL
Ret		 CYP GRE TUR ARG FIN
33		 GER GBR ITA FRA ESP AUS
5		16th4
Suzuki Ignis S1600 JPN
12
2005 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2004 MON SWE
19		12th13
Subaru Impreza WRC2005 MEX
Ret		 NZL
7		 ITA
18		 CYP
10		 TUR
24		 GRE
Ret		 ARG
9		 FIN
Ret		 GER
11		 GBR
38		 JPN
3		 FRA
Ret		 ESP
9		 AUS
4
2006 Subaru Rally Team Australia Subaru Impreza WRC2005 MON
6		 ESP
11		 FRA
13		 GER
8		10th20
Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2006 SWE
11		 MEX
7		 ARG
6		 ITA
10		 GRE
11		 FIN
13		 JPN
4		 CYP
9		 TUR
6		 AUS
9		 NZL
Ret		 GBR
6
2007 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2006 MON
4		 SWE
8		 NOR
19		7th31
Subaru Impreza WRC2007 MEX
5		 POR
Ret		 ARG
7		 ITA
10		 GRE
6		 FIN
4		 GER
15		 NZL
4		 ESP
8		 FRA
6		 JPN
Ret		 IRE
42		 GBR
7
2008 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2007 MON
3		 SWE
21		 MEX
2		 ARG
2		 JOR
3		 ITA
6		5th50
Subaru Impreza WRC2008 GRE
Ret		 TUR
13		 FIN
3		 GER
6		 NZL
Ret		 ESP
7		 FRA
6		 JPN
4		 GBR
Ret
2009 Citroën Junior Team Citroën C4 WRC IRE
5		 NOR CYP POR ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR 14th4
2012 Monster World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE MEX
Ret		 POR ARG GRE NZL 13th28
Qatar World Rally Team Citroën DS3 WRC FIN
39
WRC Team Mini Portugal Mini John Cooper Works WRC GER
5		 GBR
11		 FRA
8		 ITA
6		 ESP
7
2013 Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE MEX
6		 POR ARG GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR 16th8
2014 Hyundai Shell World Rally Team Hyundai i20 WRC MON SWE MEX
7		 POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS
10		 FRA ESP GBR 18th7

APRC results

YearEntrantCar1234567APRCPoints
2003 Suzuki Sport Suzuki Ignis S1600 AUS
4		NZL
Ret		JPN
3		THA
5		IND
6		5th18
2004 Monster Sport Australia Suzuki Ignis S1600 AUS
4		NCL
3		NZL
6		JPN
2		CHI
Ret		IND5th27
2010 Proton R3 Malaysia Proton Satria Neo S2000 MAL
4		JPN
Ret		NZL
Ret		AUS
Ret		NCLIDNCHN
2		5th48
2011 Proton Motorsport Proton Satria Neo S2000 MAL
1		AUS
Ret		NCL
1		NZL
1		JPN
Ret		CHN
2		2nd139
2012 MRF Tyres Škoda Fabia S2000 NZL
1		NCL
2		AUS
1		MYS
2		JPNCHN
2		1st154

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar

YearEntrantCar123456789101112GRCPoints
2016 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STi PHO1
PHO2
DAL
DAY1
DAY2
MCAS1
MCAS2
C
DC
AC
11		SEA
6		LA1
7		LA2
7		11th88
2017 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STI MEM
9		LOU
THO1
7		THO2
3		OTT1
4		OTT2
9		INDY
8		AC1
9		AC2
4		SEA1
3		SEA2
5		LA
9		7th585

Complete Americas Rallycross Championship results

Supercar

YearEntrantCar123456RankPoints
2018 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STi GBR
8		 COTA1
6		 CAN
5		 COTA2
7		5th66
2019 Subaru Rally Team USA Subaru Impreza WRX STi MO1
6		 GTW1
1		 GTW1
4		 CAN
4		 COTA
5		 MO2
1		2nd131

Career highlights

Atkinson and co-driver Glenn MacNeall in their Subaru Impreza WRC2006 during the 2006 Cyprus Rally. Chris Atkinson - 2006 Cyprus Rally 2.jpg
Atkinson and co-driver Glenn MacNeall in their Subaru Impreza WRC2006 during the 2006 Cyprus Rally.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Asia-Pacific Rally Champion
2012 		Succeeded by

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References

  1. ↑ Crash.net – Atkinson wins APRC title Retrieved 29 October 2012
  2. 1 2 "Chris Atkinson secures factory MINI WRC drive". AUSmotive.com. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ "Bond University – Community Newsletter, February 2006". Enews.bond.edu.au. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Atko joins Citroen". RallySportMag.com.au. 25 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "Atkinson secures Citroën drive for Rally Finland". AUSmotive.com. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  7. ↑ "Motorsports | Subaru Global". Subaru-msm.com. 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  8. ↑ www.natsoft.com.au https://web.archive.org/web/20120420032745/http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?12%2F07%2F2009.TVSC.R7. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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