Japan's Katsuhiko Taguchi (Team Mitsubishi Ralliart) finished 7th overall on the Rally of Wales, the 2nd Round of the 2002 British Rally Championship. The event took place between May 18th and 19th in north Wales and centered around the town of Wrexham.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Mitsubishi Ralliart K.Taguchi / D.Ringer

Team Mitsubishi Ralliart fielded a Group A spec. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution for the crew of Katsuhiko Taguchi / Derek Ringer (GB). Taguchi took his Lancer Evolution through the 8 special stages (172.96km) in 1 hour 53 minutes and 30 seconds to finish an impressive 7th overall in his first attempt at the British Rally Championship. There were 48 entries participating in the event, which ended with Milliner of Britain driving a Toyota Corolla WRC taking top honours. The event took place through the forest and hills of rural Wales. The gravel course in this area makes good use of the natural environment and is compared to the traditional Rally of Great Britain, the final event of the World Rally Championship.

Leg 1 made its start on Saturday, May 18th at 5 pm. Taguchi, who attracted a lot of attention in his first event, took a spin in SS1. Then in SS2, he overran a blind hairpin corner at 180km. Despite his mishaps on his first outing, Taguchi managed a good fight, subsequently finishing 8th overall on the opening day. On the following morning (May 19th) in Leg 2 he climbed to 7th position only to see his hopes dashed in SS5 with a flat, losing 2 precious minutes. But on SS6, he completed the SS in 4th position eventually finishing the event 7th overall.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Mitsubishi Ralliart K.Taguchi / D.Ringer

After the event Taguchi commented on his first participation in the British Rally Championship, "The level of this rally is quite high with experienced WRC drivers and the participation of World Rally Cars. The speed was considerable -- the rain made the course slippery and to tell you the truth I've never experienced such corners. I was able to check my steering though and I think I'm ready for the next event in Scotland."

Taguchi will participate in 3 out of the total 7 events of the British Rally Championship, the next being the Scottish Rally (a gravel event). He will also participate in a 4th event, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally (a tarmac event). By contesting both tarmac and gravel events, he hope to acquire valuable experience for events in his native Japan. He hopes to prepare for possible entry in this year's Rally of Hokkaido and the International Japanese Alpine Rally.

The 3rd event, the 2-day Scottish Rally will be held from June 8 to the 9th. The event will be centered around the town of Dumfries in southern Scotland. The event will have a total of 392.72km of which 123.96km will be competitive