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Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and Ralliart Inc. will field a Group N specification Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on the 2006 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with the experienced crew of Katsuhiko Taguchi of Japan and Mark Stacey of Australia. The 2006 APRC season will be made up of seven events of which registered drivers must nominate six on which to score points.
In 1999 Katsuhiko Taguchi took an impressive double clinching both the Overall Championship as well as the Group N Title. In 2001, he took part in the 6th round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), the Cyprus Rally in a works machine as part of a program to nurture talented Japanese rally drivers.
Taguchi then participated in three rounds of the British Rally Championship gaining valuable experience on overseas events. From 2004 he began his participation in the APRC in a fully prepared Group N specification Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. That year he took a magnificent overall victory on the China Rally, the fifth round of the season. With that result he ended the season third in the APRC ranking. In 2005 Taguchi went on to showcase his driving skills on his home event and fourth round of the APRC, Rally Hokkaido. He also showed top-notch performance on the Indonesia Rally (Round 3) taking second overall and third on the Rally Rotorua (Round. 6). He ended the year third in the rankings.
The 2006 season will mark the third year of Taguchi’s participation in the hotly-contested APRC. The Indian tire maker MRF Tyre will provide support for "Team MRF Tyre" and hopes are high for him to clinch his second Championship victory. He will also take part in Rally Japan which will be the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).
The Finnish crew of Jarkko Miettinen / Mikko Markkula will participate as Taguchi’s team-mates. Miettenen has considerable experience including taking victory in Group N on the 2002 Rally Finland. He also marked some impressive results during the 2005 Finland National Rally Championship series.
The first round of the APRC, Rally Canberra will be centered around Australia’s capital city. The event begins on Friday, March 10th and is scheduled to conclude on Sunday March 12th. Reconnaissance will be conducted on Thursday 9th, with scrutineering from the 9th to the 10th . The ceremonial start will kick off at 6:30 pm (7:30pm Japan standard time) in the center of the city. The Rally makes its official start on the morning of Saturday 11th with the mostly all-gravel stages being run in the hills around the city. Leg 1 will consist of 8 special stages, Leg 2 on the following day being contested over 9 special stages. The finish is scheduled to take place at 3:00pm at the Sutton Driver Training Center, the same service park location that was used on last year’s event.
The official entry list for this event has not been announced yet, although many talented Australian National drivers are expected to join the APRC regulars. The rally will consist of a total of 560.04 kilometers with 227.07 kilometers of that being on special stages (SS) which will be run in eight different locations.
Katsuhiko Taguchi Comment
"Last year I was able to achieve my long-cherished dream of taking an overall victory on the Rally Hokkaido. But throughout the series I found myself in a good position only to unexpectedly retire, so I can’t really say it was a completely satisfying year for me. This year I hope to compete in the APRC without making any major mistakes. With our new team-mate Jarkko I hope to clinch the Manufacturer’s Title for Mitsubishi and also the APRC Driver’s Title."
2006 APRC schedule
Round 1 - Rally Canberra - From March 10th to 12th
Round 2 - Rally New Caledonia -From April 14 to 16th
Round 3 - Rally of Rotorura - From May 26th to 28th
Round 4 - Rally Hokkaido - From July 7th to 9th
Round 5 - Malaysia Rally - August 18th to the 20th
Round 6 - Rally Indonesia - September 15th to 17th
Round 7 - China Rally - From November 25th to 27th
Katsuhiko Taguchi
Official homepage (to be established from the beginning of March) http://www.ralliart.co.jp/katsu/
Born in Okayama on February 7, 1972.
Taguchi made his rally debut when he participated in the Rally New Zealand in 1994 in a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer. In 1997 he moved to Malaysia and for three years from 1996 to 1998 he participated in the Malaysia Rally Championship and ultimately took the Group N Championship Title. In 1999 he achieved a double by taking both the APRC Group N Title as well as the Overall Championship. Taguchi participated in the sixth round of the WRC, the Cyprus Rally as a member of the Mitsubishi works team in 2001. He returned to Japan in 2002 and became an employee of Ralliart Inc. The same year he participated in the British Rally Championship.
From 2004, he began his quest of participating in all the rounds of the APRC. That year he impressed with an overall win on the China Rally to rank second in the series. In 2005 he went on to showcase his driving skills on the home event and fourth round, the Rally Hokkaido. As a result he ranked fifth in the series. In 2005, he participated in the WRC Rally Japan as part of the Mitsubishi Motors Dealer Mechanics Team.
[Main events participated]
1999 APRC Champion / Group N Champion
2000 WRC Australia Rally / Overall 11th (Group A)
2004 APRC China Rally / 1st Overall victory
2005 APRC Rally Hokkaido / 1st Overall victory
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