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Mitsubishi Motors and Ralliart Inc. will be supporting Katsuhiko Taguchi's assault on the 2005 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), which kicks off with the opening round in Australia at the end of April. The Japanese driver, co-driven by Australian Mark Stacy, will contest the series in a Group N specification Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII.
The FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship will be fought out over eight events hosted
in the Asia/Pacific region, with the registered contenders permitted to count
scores from six of the rallies. Taguchi is scheduled to participate in the first
five rounds, with his remaining event yet to be confirmed.
"I am extremely happy to participate in the APRC as part of Team MRF Tire,Ó said Katsuhiko Taguchi. ÒLast year I was able to gain one victory but I was not really satisfied with third overall in the championship. The series will conduct an event in Japan in July, so I want to live up to everyone's expectations. I am aiming to win the APRC for the first time since 1999."
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Katsuhiko Taguchi / Mark Stacey
(2004 Rally Japan) |
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Taguchi is a regular international contender and took the overall and Group N title in the 1999 APRC. As part of a development program by Mitsubishi and Ralliart Inc., the Japanese driver was entered with the factory WRC team in Cyprus' round of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2001, and in 2002 he contested three events in the British Rally Championship. Last year Taguchi competed in the APRC in Mitsubishi's Group N Lancer Evolution and took overall victory in the China Rally. He also claimed second in the Rally of India to finish third in the series.
Taguchi's Team MRF Tire team-mate this season will be Jussi Valimaki, who has also had experience on the world stage. In this year's Swedish Rally, the second round of the FIA World Rally Championship, the Finn finished fourth in his Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution.
Japanese crews entered in the Rally of Canberra include Masaki Yamada (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) Toshihiro Arai (Subaru Impreza) and Mitsuhiro Kunisawa (Subaru Impreza), all of whom are registered in the series. Jun Masumura (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) will be gunning for outright event honors.
The opening round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship takes the crews to Australia for the Rally of Canberra (Friday April 22-Sunday April 24). A total of 19 drivers will compete in the event. The pre-event reconnaissance, which takes place between April 20-21, will then be followed by final scrutineering before the ceremonial start on Friday evening (19:30 hrs Japan time) marks the beginning of the 2005 event.
The hills to the west of Canberra, the country's capital, will play host to the competitive action, with Saturday's opening leg marginally the longest with 135.71 competitive kilometers over 10 special stages. Sunday takes in another 10 stages and 129.73 kilometers, again all based around the service park at the Sutton Driver Training Center. After a total of 265.44 competitive kilometers over a total distance of 774.62 kilometers, the winner will be declared at the finish and prize-giving ceremony on Sunday afternoon.
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Katsuhiko Taguchi
- Born: July 2nd 1972
- Nationality: Japanese
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Career Highlights:
1999 APRC Overall & Group N Champion
2000 2nd APRC Rally of Canberra
2000 11th WRC Australia Rally
2003 4th APRC Rally of Thailand (2nd place Group N)
2004 Overall Win APRC China Rally |
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Jussi Valimaki
- Born: September 10th 1974
- Nationality: Finnish
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Career Highlights:
2001 9th FIA Super 1600 Drivers Championship
2002 2nd Arctic Lapland Rally (Finland)
2004 26th FIA WRC for Drivers
2005 FIA WRC Rd.2 Swedish Rally (4th place Group N) |
Schedule of 2005 APRC
| 1 |
Rally of Canberra |
22 - 24 Apr. |
| 2 |
Rallye de Nouvelle-Caledonie |
20 - 22 May. |
| 3 |
Rally Rotorua |
17 - 19 Jun. |
| 4 |
Rally Hokkaido |
22 - 24 Jul. |
| 5 |
Malaysian Rally |
19 - 21 Aug. |
| 6 |
Rally of Indonesia |
9 - 11 Sep. |
| 7 |
Rally of Thailand |
21 - 23 Oct. |
| 8 |
China Rally |
25 - 27 Nov. |
APRC Round 1 Major entry
| No. |
Name |
MACHINE |
| 1 |
Dean HERRIDGE |
Subaru Impreza |
| 2 |
Toshihiro ARAI* |
Subaru Impreza |
| 3 |
Katsuhiko TAGUCHI* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 4 |
Cody CROCKER |
Subaru Impreza |
| 5 |
Juha KANGAS |
Subaru Impreza |
| 6 |
Scott PEDDER |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 7 |
Geoffrey ARGYLE* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 8 |
Brad GOLDSBROUGH |
Subaru Impreza |
| 9 |
Atsushi MASUMURA |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 10 |
Jussi VALIMAKI* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 13 |
Satoru ITO |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 16 |
Masaki YAMADA* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 17 |
Mitsuhiro KUNISAWA* |
Subaru Impreza |
| 18 |
Brian GREEN* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| 19 |
Dermott MALLEY* |
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution |
| * denotes APRC registered |
Mitsubishi Motors 2005 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship WEB site
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/motorsports/e/05aprc/
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