Chris Atkinson
.jpg) Chris Atkinson in 2013 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 Australian |
| Born |
30 November 1979 Bega, New South Wales, Australia |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 2001 – 2009 , 2012 – 2014 |
| Teams | Subaru World Rally Team, Citroën Junior Team, Monster World Rally Team, WRC Team Mini Portugal, Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT, Hyundai Shell World Rally Team |
| Rallies | 77 |
| Championships | 0 |
| Rally wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 6 |
| Stage wins | 41 |
| Total points | 165 |
| First rally | 2004 Rally New Zealand |
Chris Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the WRC (World Rally Championship), he drove for the Subaru World Rally Team from 2004 to 2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina. Other podium placings include third-place finishes at the 2005 Rally Japan and the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.
Atkinson drives for Team MRF, and competed in the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and made a guest appearance in the World Rally Championship. Atkinson won the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.[1]
On 16 August 2012, it was announced that Atkinson would be the number one driver for the WRC Team Mini Portugal outfit for the last five races of the 2012 WRC season.[2]
Early career
Prior to his motorsport career, Atkinson had a career as a stockbroker. He graduated at Bond University in commerce, majoring in finance and accounting in 1999 after receiving an academic scholarship for studies. Atkinson was a co-driver for his brother Ben, but after attending a rally school with his brother, the pair swapped positions, scoring a class win and third overall.[3][4] Currently, his brother Ben Atkinson is a co-driver for Cody Crocker in APRC.
For his first full season of competition, Atkinson contested the Australian Rally Championship aboard a privately entered Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, finishing inside the top ten in Group N and in the overall top 20 on every round he contested, as well as setting two second-fastest stage times. The Atkinsons finished ninth outright to become Privateer Champions. This performance brought Atkinson to the attention of Suzuki, who offered him the opportunity to drive one of its Super 1600 Ignis models with the Suzuki Sport team in the 2003 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship.
Atkinson rewarded the team with a class win in the opening round of the championship in Canberra. Next came a second place in New Zealand, a second in Japan and two wins in Thailand and India, culminating in Atkinson winning the Super 1600 title. He finished fifth in the overall championship, ahead of many more powerful, four-wheel-drive, turbo-charged cars.
WRC career
Atkinson's first world rally was the 2004 Rally New Zealand in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. For 2005, he was signed by Subaru World Rally Team to drive the Subaru Impreza WRC alongside 2003 world champion Petter Solberg. He finished 12th overall in the drivers' world championship with 13 points. His best results were third in Japan and fourth in Australia.
After finishing the 2006 season tenth overall in the drivers championship with 20 points and a fourth place as his best finish, Subaru told Atkinson that his job was on the line, and if he could not balance his speed with safety and achieve quality results he would be replaced by another driver.
At the start of the 2007 season Atkinson finished fourth at the 2007 Rally Monte Carlo, recording three stage wins. On the final day of the rally, Atkinson was 0.8 seconds behind fourth place man Mikko Hirvonen and had to beat him in the super special stage, a 2.4 km run through Monaco which uses part of the world famous Formula One course. Hirvonen set a time of 1:50.9 meaning that Atkinson had to at least set a time of 1:50.1 to beat him, but Atkinson did better and took the stage win with a time of 1:49.9. Hirvonen was the first person over to Atkinson to congratulate him.
At the 2007 Rally Finland, Atkinson posted the fastest time on the short opening super special stage on a horse-racing course at Killeri, to lead the rally for a short time. Atkinson finished the 2007 season seventh overall in the drivers' world championship.
At the beginning of the 2008 season, Atkinson took third place in Monte Carlo; while at the 2008 Corona Rally Mexico, Atkinson managed second, 30 seconds ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala. He finished the season fifth in the drivers' standings, and for the first time, outscored hitherto team leader Solberg.
After Subaru's season-ending announcement of its withdrawal from the WRC, Atkinson signed for the new Citroën Junior Team for the 2009 season.[5] In his only rally for the season with the team in Ireland, he produced a strong showing to finish fifth, despite colliding with a telegraph pole during the first day, and suffering a spin on SS18.
Re-entry into WRC (2012)
After signing with Monster World Rally Team in 2012, Atkinson raced alongside Ken Block in Mexico. Atkinson won a stage, SS12 – Leon Super Special but finished with a DNF due to mechanical failure.
Atkinson also signed up for a one-off drive in a Citroën DS3 WRC for the Qatar World Rally Team for Rally Finland.[6] However, his medium term WRC future was granted when it was announced he would replace Armindo Araujo as the lead driver for the factory-backed WRC Team MINI Portugal in the last five rallies of the 2012 season.[2]
Atkinson contested the last five rounds of the 2012 WRC season with the Motorsport Italia-run MINI squad to finish the year 13th in the Championship. His best result for the year was achieved at Rallye Deutschland (Rally Germany) where he secured 5th behind the wheel of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.
Atkinson was snapped up by the Citroen team for 2013, however the team only used him for Rally Mexico, where he finished 6th, 11 minutes off the winner (Sebastien Ogier). Hyundai hired him mid-year as a test driver for their i20 rally car, which led to a part-time deal for 2014. In 2014 he raced at the rallies of Mexico and his home event in Australia, finishing 7th and 10th respectively. In both events he was the last of the Hyundai drivers, and faces another season on the sidelines in 2015.
Proton R3 Rally Team
In April 2010, Chris Atkinson began a partnership with the Proton R3 Rally Team. Competing in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), Atkinson drove a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, alongside co-driver Stephane Prevot. Also driving for the Proton R3 Rally Team was former WRC driver Alister McRae.
After making a guest appearance at the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) Monte Carlo Rally, Atkinson has dominated the 2011 APRC, winning the Malaysian Rally, Rallye de Nouvelle Caledonia and the International Rally of Whangarei. However missing round two in Queensland and the final round in Hokkaido saw him finish second to his team mate Alister McRae who competed in all rounds.
MRF Skoda Rally Team
Chris Atkinson compete in an Australian-run Skoda in the 2012 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Atkinson drove for the MRF team in a Skoda Fabia S2000, co-driven by regular wingman Stephane Prevot and the pair were crowned 2012 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Champions. This becomes the Gold Coaster's first, and biggest, international motorsport crown, captured amongst a raft of extremely competitive rallying talent from across the globe.
"It's an awesome feeling to take the APRC title after a great year with the MRF Skoda team," said Atkinson. "There's a great lineup of drivers from around the world competing in the championship this season so I'm extremely proud to be flying the Aussie flag high for everyone back home."
Atkinson’s Belgian co-driver Stephane Prevot picked up the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship for Co-Drivers with Skoda winning the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Cup for Manufacturers and Team MRF the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship – Teams Trophy. The year was a solid one for Atkinson with two wins from five events including victory at his home event, the Brakes Direct Rally Queensland, in May. It was a busy year for Atkinson with dual rallying commitments having him compete in the APRC and WRC, which this year forced the 32-year-old to miss APRC Rally Japan in September. Despite the absence from Japan, Atkinson's performances on the remaining five rallies were strong enough to secure Skoda's first ever Asia-Pacific Rallying title since the Championship’s inception back in 1988.
"It's been a busy last half of the season but thanks to a great team at Race Torque and huge support from Skoda Australia and Brakes Direct we were able to bring our A game all year and produce the ultimate result." Atko added. "I also have to thank my family, friends and of course my fans who have shown massive support all year for both the APRC and WRC programs."
Atkinson joins an illustrious list of former APRC champions including the likes of Carlos Sainz, Possum Bourne and Rod Millen amongst others.
Circuit Racing
At the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 2006, Chris made his circuit racing debut driving a Subaru Impreza for the Autosportif Racing UK placing second in class.[7] From that lead a drive in the 2007 Bathurst 12 Hour again in a Subaru Impreza where he finished first in class and second outright. In 2009 he competed in the third round of the Australian Mini Challenge co-driving with two-time Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Champion Steve Owen finishing second in the 30-minute endurance race.[8]
Complete WRC results
APRC results
| Year | Entrant | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | APRC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Suzuki Sport | Suzuki Ignis S1600 | AUS 4 |
NZL Ret |
JPN 3 |
THA 5 |
IND 6 |
5th | 18 | ||
| 2004 | Monster Sport Australia | Suzuki Ignis S1600 | AUS 4 |
NCL 3 |
NZL 6 |
JPN 2 |
CHI Ret |
IND | 5th | 27 | |
| 2010 | Proton R3 Malaysia | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MAL 4 |
JPN Ret |
NZL Ret |
AUS Ret |
NCL | IDN | CHN 2 |
5th | 48 |
| 2011 | Proton Motorsport | Proton Satria Neo S2000 | MAL 1 |
AUS Ret |
NCL 1 |
NZL 1 |
JPN Ret |
CHN 2 |
2nd | 139 | |
| 2012 | MRF Tyres | Škoda Fabia S2000 | NZL 1 |
NCL 2 |
AUS 1 |
MYS 2 |
JPN | CHN 2 |
1st | 154 | |
Career highlights
- 2012 – Winner, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
- 2011 – 2nd, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
- 2010 – 5th, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship
- 2009 – 14th, World Rally Championship
- 2008 – 5th, World Rally Championship
- 2007 – 7th, World Rally Championship
- 2006 – 10th, World Rally Championship
- 2005 – 12th, World Rally Championship
- 2004 – Winner, Asia-Pacific Super 1600 Championship
- 2004 – Second, Australian Rally Championship
- 2003 – Winner, Asia-Pacific Super 1600 Championship
- 2002 – Winner, Australian Privateers Cup
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alister McRae |
Asia-Pacific Rally Champion 2012 |
Succeeded by Gaurav Gill |
References
- ↑ Crash.net – Atkinson wins APRC title Retrieved 29 October 2012
- 1 2 "Chris Atkinson secures factory MINI WRC drive". AUSmotive.com. 2012-08-17. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
- ↑ Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "Bond University – Community Newsletter, February 2006". Enews.bond.edu.au. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
- ↑ "Atko joins Citroen". RallySportMag.com.au. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ↑ "Atkinson secures Citroën drive for Rally Finland". AUSmotive.com. 2012-08-16. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
- ↑ "Motorsports | Subaru Global". Subaru-msm.com. 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2012-12-07.
- ↑ http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?12/07/2009.TVSC.R7
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chris Atkinson. |
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