General:Rally HokkaidoDates: 18 - 20 September 2015Non-APRC competitions run in conjunction:Round 7 of Japanese Rally ChampionshipStart of Reconnaissance period:From 0900hrs Thursday 17 September 2015Route:  Total distance:957.16 kmStage (competitive) distance:225.35 kmTotal number of Stages:20Number of different stage venues:9Longest stage (name and distance):SS 4, 9  Kunneywa 1 & 2  (28.75 km)Leg 1 A  First car due at TC0:17:37hrs  First car due parc ferme end Leg 1A:After 18:00hrsLeg 1 B  First car due at TC1B:06:00hrs  Anticipated time of first car due parc ferme19:25hrsend Leg 1B: Leg 2  First car due at TC11D:05:00hrsAnticipated time of first car into final service17:10hrsend of Leg 2: Superspecial (if any):Satsunai River Super Special – SS 1, 11, 20Ceremonial Start (if any – time and location):16:45hrs  Friday 18 September 2015  Kita Aikoku Service ParkService Park location(s):Leg 1 – Kita Aikoku & Rikubetsu  Leg 2 – Kita AikokuShakedown location :12:00hrs – 1300hrs, Friday 18 September 2015  Satsunai River SSSAdministration: Telephone Country Code:+ 81 + Area Code + Local NumberLikely weather conditions:Average high temperature for September is 21.5
degrees Celsius, and the average low is 12.1 degrees
Celsius. Average rainfall for the month is 138 mm. Likely
weather is warm.         Local standard time:  GMT +xxJapan  Standard Time is GMT +9 hrsSun Rise(19 September):05:08hrsSun Set(19 September):17:32hrs  Location of Rally Headquarters:Administration Building, Tokachi Oval
56-7 S7, Minami-machi, Obihiro, Hokkaido
Opening hours from 0900hrs Wednesday 16
September, to 1200hrs Monday 21 September, 2015         Location of Media Centre:Rally HQ (as above) from  1300hrs Wednesday 16 September   General email contact and website for theinfo@rally-hokkaido.comorganisers:www.rally-hokkaido.comGeneral media contact for the rally:Mr. Isao KONO  Tel:  +81 (0) 11 864 2003  Fax:  +81 (0) 11 864 1182  media@rally-hokkaido.comLocation of Overnight & Finish Parc Ferme:Kita Aikoku Service Park

Event description:

 

Hokkaido has a climate of extremes. From December to February the temperature rarely rises above zero. Rikubetsu, the location of the service park for 1 service on Leg 1, has one of the coldest locations in Japan. In summer, in contrast, the temperatures in Tokachi can be 35 degrees Celsius plus.

Introduced for the first time in the history of Rally Hokkaido will be an all tarmac special stage, IKEDA SS 13 & 17 on Leg 2. This is a 12.37 km stage which will bring new challenges for drivers.

The lush vegetation is one of the features of the Japanese rally – the stages are fast and narrow, and the pace notes have to be very accurate as the grass and bushes by the side of the road can often be covering some deep ditches and hidden obstacles.

The Satsunai River SSS will again run as the rally opening stage on Friday evening. This is a short high speed 1.0 km long stage running alongside the Satsunai River adjacent to Kita Aikoku SP. Used a total of 3 times during the event, this will be an exciting finale to Leg 2 on Sunday.

Points standings for APRC honours after Malaysian Rally give Team MRF Skoda driver Pontus Tidemand a 43 point advantage over his closest rival and team mate, Gaurav Gill. Third placed Cusco Racing driver Mike Young is another 44 points behind. It will be important for all drivers to finish this event and score valuable points and keep their hopes of winning the championship alive.

Asia Cup points give Team MRF Skoda driver Gill a 10 point advantage over SEM Wan Yu driver Fan Fan. New Asia Cup competitor, Japanese driver Hitoshi Takayama lies third driving a Subaru Impreza for Immens Motorsport.

Information about entries:Total number of APRC entries23APRC News:Next event – China Rally, 30 October  – 1  November, 2015Asia Pacific Rally Championship for Drivers –Points table after Round 4 – Malaysian Rally               DRIVER CO-DRIVER   TEAM   VEHICLEPOINTS1PontusEmil AXELSSONTeam MRFSkoda Fabia S2000147TIDEMAND               2Gaurav GILLGlen MACNEALLTeam MRFSkoda Fabia S2000104               3Michael YOUNGMalcolm READCusco RacingSubaru Impreza60WRX               4Subhan AKSANicola ARENABosowa RallyMitsubishi Evo X44Team             Asia Cup –points table after Round 1 of Asia Cup – Malaysian Rally              DRIVER CO-DRIVER  TEAM  VEHICLE  POINTS1Gaurav GILL Glenn MACNEALL Team MRF Skoda Fabia S2000 39          2Fan FAN Junwei FANG SEM Wan Yu Rally Team Soueast Lancer EX 29                  3Hitoshi TAKAYAMAHideki TAKEYABU Immens Motorsport Subaru Impreza 26    WRX             4Michael YOUNGMalcolm READCusco Racing Subaru Impreza 4   WRX                 5Dinesh DEHERAGODA Shafraz JUNAID Advent Rally Sport Mitsubishi Lancer 4    Evo X                6Sanjay TAKALE Sean GREGORY Cusco Racing Subaru Impreza 0     WRX             7Subhan AKSA Nicola ARENA Bosowa Rally Team Mitsubishi Lancer 0   Evo X                 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Cup powered by Würth – Leading drivers points table after Round 4 DRIVERCOUNTRYVEHICLEPOINTS1Pontus TIDEMANDSWESkoda Fabia S20001472Gaurav GILLINDSkoda Fabia S20001043Jean-Louis LEYRAUDFRASkoda Fabia S2000564Michael YOUNGNZLSubaru Impreza WRX565Subhan AKSAIDNMitsubishi Evo X436Fan FANCHNSoueast Lancer EX237Genki TAKEUCHIJPNSubaru Impreza WRX218Eugene CREUGNETFRAMitsubishi Evo IX20