ASIA PACIFIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship is spread through a diverse range of coun- “Every rally is so different and the memories from these countries no-one can take tries, climates, cultures and a huge population base of over 2.5 billion people. away. I’m really happy I had the chance to do this Championship.” Jan Kopecký (Czech Republic) 2014 APRC Champion and 2013 European Rally Champion. In 2015 six events make-up the championship starting in New Zealand with the fast and smooth roads at Rally of Whangarei. A month later is the tropical island paradise and rough roads of New Caledonia followed by Australia’s Sunshine Coast and the International Rally of Queensland. The APRC then heads to Asia to the very hot and humid Malaysian Rally based in Johor Bahru. Japan is next and the fast forestry and public roads of Rally Hokkaido, followed by the championship finale in the bamboo forests and mountains of Zhejiang province, China. In 2015 India will host an ‘Asia Cup only’ event, with a view to having full status in the future. Registered competitors can score points for the drivers, teams and manufacturers championships in the six rounds (not including India) and must enter a minimum of five events to qualify. Alternatively if an APRC registered Team nominates to run a vehicle in all events then multiple drivers can enter one-off events with that team and score APRC drivers points. More information at www.fiaaprc.com or contact APRC Coordinator Murray Brown. 2015 Calendar 17 - 19 April New Zealand APRC Pacific Cup Junior Cup 15- 17 May New Caledonia APRC Pacific Cup 19 - 21 June Australia APRC Pacific Cup Junior Cup 14 - 16 August Malaysia APRC Asia Cup Junior Cup 18 - 20 September Japan APRC Asia Cup Junior Cup 30 Oct - 01 November China APRC Asia Cup New Caledonia 11 - 13 December India Asia Cup Photo: Hirokazu Somemiya New Zealand Whangarei Auckland Date: 17 - 19 April 2015 Location: Whangarei Population: 4.4 million Nearest International Airport: Auckland 2.5 hours Website: www.rallywhangarei.co.nz Average temperature: 12-15 degrees C Description: The ultimate driver’s rally. Smooth, fast cambered roads previously used by the WRC. Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media New Caledonia Date: 15 - 17 May 2015 Location: Bourail and Noumea Population: 250,000 Nearest International Airport: Noumea 1 hour Website: www.aprcnewcaledonia.com Average temperature: 20 degrees C Description: Together with the flavours of France, rallying on a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. What could be better? Noumea Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media Australia Brisbane Sydney Date: 19 - 21 June 2015 Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland Population: 22.5 million Nearest International Airport: Brisbane 1.5 hours Website: www.rallyqueensland.com.au Average temperature: 17 degrees C Description: Great location, challenging roads. APRC champion Jan Kopecký summed it up “I’m coming back here for a holiday”. Photo: Alan McDonald Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Johor Bahru Date: 14 - 16 August 2015 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 degrees C and 95% humidity Description: Rallying in a Sauna, and one of the most challenging of the championship. Photo: Hirokazu Somemiya Japan Obihiro Tokyo Date: 18 - 20 September 2015 Location: Obihiro, Hokkaido Population: 127 million Nearest International Airport: Sapporo Website: www.rally-hokkaido.com Average temperature: 15 degrees C Description: Well organised event with fanatical fans. The roads are fast and narrow with a soft- base that turns to deep ruts on the second pass. Photo: Mitsura Kotake China Shanghai Longyou Date: 30 October - 01 November 2015 Location: Longyou, Zhejiang Province Population: 1.4 billion Nearest International Airports: Shanghai or Hangzhou Website: www.fasc.org.cn Average temperature: 15 - 18 degrees C Description: This event takes competitors into parts of ‘Old China’ where fields are still ploughed with an Ox and the rice milled by hand. The roads are a challenging mix of concrete and gravel, twisty mountain passes to flat and fast. Photo: Asia Pacific Sports Media India India New Delhi Mumbai Chikkamagaluru Date: 11 - 13 December 2015 Location: Chikkamagaluru 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), about 250 Kms away, Mangaluru, about 140 Kms away. Website: www.mscc.org.in Average temperature: 17 degrees C during winter. Description: Gravel roads with the colours and cuisine of India. Photo: Anand Philar Competitor Information Asia and Pacific Cups The Asia and Pacific Cups are separate competitions within the APRC that allows Production Cup Open to all FIA homologated Group N cars and other approved production cars. teams/drivers to compete at events in either region – and still enjoy the benefits the These are based on standard production models as homologated by the FIA. APRC offers such as coordinated shipping, advanced start order and extensive media This series provides for competitors who wish to continue to run their existing Gp N cars coverage. These two zone Cups cater for drivers who will do their “home” event plus and compete with similar cars for the FIA Rally Production Cup. It is a FIA sanctioned the experience of competing in a minimum of two other international events in the re- Cup series aimed at competitors without the need to invest in the more competitive spective zones. purpose built class cars. The FIA APRC Production Cup will be contested over 6 nomi- nated events of APRC. Junior Cup Providing an opportunity for young drivers from the region and the world to compete Teams Trophy in an FIA sanctioned series. The Junior Cup winner will receive subsidized entry to all The Teams Trophy has provided an opportunity for teams to contest an APRC regional APRC events the following year. Junior Cup competitors will compete in four rallies, two trophy alongside the overall APRC championship. Details can be found in 2015 FIA in Pacific, two in Asia. Minimum qualification is one rally in each region. All details and Regulations (APRC) or by contacting APRC Coordinator Murray Brown. eligibility requirements can be found in the 2015 FIA Regulations (APRC) or by contact- ing APRC Coordinator Murray Brown. China Photo: Mitsura Kotake Coordinated Logistics Eligibility of Cars Even though the championship is held over such a large geographic area, the logistics Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in December 2014, agreement of shipping cars and equipment are surprisingly easy when all shipping is handled by has been reached to allow the APRC to approve cars from countries within the region APRC coordinator Murray Brown – who performs a dual role as logistics coordinator to participate and score points in the 2015 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. and competitor liaison representative at all events and Working Group meetings. Co- Examples are Chinese, Malaysian and Australian Rally Championship cars, with some ordinated shipping means that all containers arrive and depart at the same time – with restrictions such as 34mm turbo restrictors. considerable savings for all teams. This is in addition to cars that comply with the JAF (Japanese Automobile Federation) Based on 2014 costs, the average shipping budget for a team utilizing a 40’ SOC con- RJ, CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Sport Ltd) G2 regulations and maxi cars tainer for the whole championship (six events) is US$52,000 for ocean freight, domestic already locally homologated in Argentina. transport and logistics. Assistance and advice will be given on other aspects including air freight, customs clearance, documentation, insurance and local assistance. Shipping With the growing manufacturer and consumer interest in alternative fuel cars, the from home port to first event, and return to home port after last event, can easily be APRC is considering a category to cater for this class in the near future. arranged. More Information: Teams can consider a 2 car team operating from one 40’ HC container to potentially re- duce freight costs significantly. Where possible all teams containers and equipment are Murray Brown, APRC Coordinator: [email protected] handled as one import and export providing a cost effective, efficient logistics solution. APRC Secretariat: [email protected] Japan Photo: Mitsura Kotake Television and Media Each 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 au- dience of 463 million households. Broadcasters include FOX Sports Asia (STAR Sports in some locations), Outdoor Channel Asia, Guangdong TV China, CCTV-5 China, DD Sports India, FoxSports Australia, and Motors-TV Europe. APRC social media channels include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Repucom International produce an annual and independent TV Exposure Analysis re- port, copies available on request. On-Line media includesYoutube, Twitter, Facebook and dedicated websites. Further details are available at www.aprc.tv China Photo: Hirokazu Somemiya WüRTH – APRC Product Partnership Würth: Global headquarters in Germany Industry Fasteners, chemicals, safety products, tools Products 120,000 Founded 1945 Headquarters Künzelsau, Germany Revenue € 9.985 bn. Employees 64,892 (2014) Website www.wuerth.com 2014 was the second of a multi-year Product Partnership between the APRC and Würth, a global company headquartered in Germany producing over 120,000 products from tools to chemicals. The following comments are from Würth representatives from the Asia-Pacific Region. Martin Ruetti of Würth International, Shanghai: “The APRC shows Würth products being used by high-skilled professionals working on factory supported rally cars under extreme conditions.