# 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship

The 2012 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. Australian driver Chris Atkinson won the championship he narrowly lost the previous year, beating the Proton R3 Rally Team he raced for in 2011. His Škoda Fabia won the Rally of Whangarei as well as his home event the International Rally of Queensland as well as finishing second in New Caledonia, Malaysia and China, building up a lead his 2011 teammate and defending champion Alister McRae could not catch once his Proton Satria Neo started winning at the Malaysian Rally and the season ending China Rally. The only other rally winners were Indian Skoda driver Gaurav Gill at the Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie and Malaysian Proton driver Karamjit Singh. Super 2000 cars dominated results with only New Zealand driver Brian Green finishing in the top three at any event in a Group N car.

## Selected entries

The following teams and drivers represent the major entries participating in the 2012 season:
| Constructor | Car | Entrant | Driver | Co-driver | Rounds |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | Proton Motorsports | Alister McRae | Bill Hayes | All |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | Proton Motorsports | Per-Gunnar Andersson | Emil Axelsson | 1–4 |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | Proton Motorsports | Juha Salo | Marko Salminen | 5–6 |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo | Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team | Karamjit Singh | Vivek Ponnusamy | 1, 3–6 |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo | Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team | Akira Bamba | Takahiro Yasui | 1, 3–6 |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo | Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team | Kenneth Koh | Jagdev Singh | 1, 3–6 |
| Proton | Proton Satria Neo | Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team | Sanjay Takle | Musa Sherif | 1, 3–6 |
| Škoda | Škoda Fabia S2000 | Team MRF | Chris Atkinson | Stéphane Prévot | 1–4, 6 |
| Škoda | Škoda Fabia S2000 | Team MRF | Gaurav Gill | Glenn MacNeall | All |
| Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X | Green Motorsport | Brian Green | Fleur Pedersen | 1 |
| Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | Green Motorsport | Brian Green | Fleur Pedersen | 2–3 |
| Subaru | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | MRU Motorsports | Brian Green | Fleur Pedersen | 4–6 |
| Subaru | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | Cusco Racing | Shuhei Muta | Hajime Hoshino | 5 |

## Race calendar and results

The 2012 APRC is as follows:
| Round | Rally name | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Podium finishers | Statistics | Statistics | Statistics | Statistics |
| Round | Rally name | Rank | Driver | Car | Time | Stages | Length | Starters | Finishers |
| 1 | Rally of Whangarei (30 March – 1 April) | 1 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2:50:16.1 | 16 | 283.28 km | 22 | 17 |
| 1 | Rally of Whangarei (30 March – 1 April) | 2 | Per-Gunnar Andersson | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 2:50:44.3 | 16 | 283.28 km | 22 | 17 |
| 1 | Rally of Whangarei (30 March – 1 April) | 3 | Gaurav Gill | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2:52:51.9 | 16 | 283.28 km | 22 | 17 |
| 2 | Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie (28–29 April) | 1 | Gaurav Gill | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2:52:35.9 | 19 | 266.49 km | 11 | 4 |
| 2 | Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie (28–29 April) | 2 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2:57:28.1 | 19 | 266.49 km | 11 | 4 |
| 2 | Rallye de Nouvelle Calédonie (28–29 April) | 3 | Brian Green | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 3:08:21.6 | 19 | 266.49 km | 11 | 4 |
| 3 | Rally Queensland (26–27 May) | 1 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 2:20:52.4 | 19 | 235.86 km | 14 | 10 |
| 3 | Rally Queensland (26–27 May) | 2 | Alister McRae | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 2:24.50.3 | 19 | 235.86 km | 14 | 10 |
| 3 | Rally Queensland (26–27 May) | 3 | Michael Boaden (ARC) | Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX | 2:25.33.5 | 19 | 235.86 km | 14 | 10 |
| 4 | Malaysian Rally (14–15 July) | 1 | Alister McRae | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 2:57:31.5 | 15 | 235.28 km | 14 | 9 |
| 4 | Malaysian Rally (14–15 July) | 2 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 3:22:56.6 | 15 | 235.28 km | 14 | 9 |
| 4 | Malaysian Rally (14–15 July) | 3 | Brian Green | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 3:24:08.1 | 15 | 235.28 km | 14 | 9 |
| 5 | Rally Hokkaido (15–16 September) | 1 | Karamjit Singh | Proton Satria Neo | 2:30:28.3 | 18 | 220.48 km | 41 | 28 |
| 5 | Rally Hokkaido (15–16 September) | 2 | Akira Bamba | Proton Satria Neo | 2:33:58.1 | 18 | 220.48 km | 41 | 28 |
| 5 | Rally Hokkaido (15–16 September) | 3 | Brian Green | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | 2:34:29.0 | 18 | 220.48 km | 41 | 28 |
| 6 | China Rally (26–28 October) | 1 | Alister McRae | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 03:02:33.1 | 13 | 230.96 km | 10 | 9 |
| 6 | China Rally (26–28 October) | 2 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 03:04:19.6 | 13 | 230.96 km | 10 | 9 |
| 6 | China Rally (26–28 October) | 3 | Juha Salo | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 03:09:31.7 | 13 | 230.96 km | 10 | 9 |

## Championship standings

The 2012 APRC for Drivers points is as follows:
| Position | Driver | Vehicle | NZL | NCL | AUS | MAL | JPN | CHN | Total |
| 1 | Chris Atkinson | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 1 $^{12}$ | 2 $^9$ | 1 $^{12}$ | 2 $^7$ | | 2 $^{10}$ | 154 |
| 2 | Alister McRae | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 4 $^4$ | Ret $^7$ | 2 $^7$ | 1 $^8$ | Ret $^5$ | 1 $^{10}$ | 121 |
| 3 | Brian Green | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX | 5 $^2$ | 3 $^6$ | 3 $^4$ | 3 $^4$ | 3 $^8$ | 3 $^5$ | 114 |
| 4 | Gaurav Gill | Škoda Fabia S2000 | 3 $^6$ | 1 $^{10}$ | Ret $^7$ | Ret $^5$ | Ret $^7$ | Ret $^7$ | 82 |
| 5 | Karamjit Singh | Proton Satria Neo | 6 | | Ret | 4 $^4$ | 1 $^8$ | 4 $^3$ | 72 |
| 6 | Akira Bamba | Proton Satria Neo | Ret | | 5 $^2$ | 5 $^1$ | 2 $^5$ | 5 $^1$ | 57 |
| 7 | Per-Gunnar Andersson | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | 2 $^{12}$ | Ret $^2$ | 4 $^4$ | Ret $^7$ | | | 55 |
| 8 | Kenneth Koh | Proton Satria Neo | 7 | | Ret | 7 | 4 $^2$ | 6 | 34 |
| 9 | Sanjay Takle | Proton Satria Neo | 8 | | 6 | 6 | Ret $^1$ | 7 | 27 |
Key :
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Withdrew entry from the event (WD) |
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.