Chris Atkinson

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For the footballer, see Chris Atkinson (footballer).

Chris Atkinson
2017
Monster World Rally Team, WRC Team Mini Portugal, Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT, Hyundai Shell World Rally Team
Rallies77
Championships0
Rally wins0
Podiums6
Stage wins41
Total points165
First rally2004 Rally New Zealand
Last rally2014 Rally Australia

Chris Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in Bega, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 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

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] Atkinson's brother, Ben Atkinson, is a co-driver for Cody Crocker in APRC.

For his first full season of competition, Atkinson contested the

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
.

WRC career

Atkinson at the 2006 Rally Japan.

Atkinson's first world rally was in 2004 at the 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.

Atkinson at the 2006 Rally 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

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.

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

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 at 2012 Rallye Deutschland

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

2014. In 2014 he raced at the rallies of Mexico and his home event in Australia
, finishing 7th and 10th respectively. In both events, Atkinson was the last of the Hyundai drivers.

Regional series

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.

After making a guest appearance at 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 teammate Alister McRae
who competed in all rounds.

Atkinson competed in an Australian-run Skoda in the 2012 FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, driving 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.

In 2014, Atkinson signed with FAW-VW Rally Team from China. He competed with a S2000 with two rallies. At the end of 2014, with the coming of FAW-FW Golf 7 SCRC, Atkinson restarted his prominence in CRC (China Rally Championship). In the debut of the Golf 7 SCRC, Atko won by 25 mins in the penultimate rally of 2014 CRC in Longyou. And in the Wuyi, the last one, he did not give the champion away. For 2015 and 2016, Atko won 9 of 11 in CRC, defeating the Subaru Rally Team China driver Mark Higgins. However, CRC does not count the points achieved by a foreign driver, or he would surely be the Driver's Champion of CRC in 2015 and 2016.

2015: Guiyang (1st), Zhangye (Ret, Mark Higgins won), Beijing (1st), Dengfeng (1st), Longyou (1st), Wuyi (1st), Jixi (3rd, Jari Ketomaa won)

2016: Dengfeng (1st), Zhangye (1st), Jinzhong (1st), Changchun (1st)

Other racing

At the

Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Champion Steve Owen finishing second in the 30-minute endurance race.[8]

Atkinson competed in the final four rounds of the 2016 Global RallyCross Championship, finishing the championship in 11th in a campaign that included a finals appearance in Seattle. He is likely to stay in rallycross for 2017, whether it be in the GRC or the World Rallycross Championship.

Complete WRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
2004
 Chris Atkinson Subaru Impreza WRX STI MON SWE
MEX
 NZL
Ret 		CYP GRE TUR ARG FIN
33
GER
GBR
 ITA FRA ESP AUS
5 		16th 4
Suzuki Ignis S1600 JPN
12
2005
 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2004 MON SWE
19 		12th 13
Subaru Impreza WRC2005 MEX
Ret 		NZL
7 		ITA
18 		CYP
10 		TUR
24 		GRE
Ret 		ARG
9 		FIN
Ret
GER

11
GBR

38 		JPN
3 		FRA
Ret 		ESP
9 		AUS
4
2006
 Subaru Rally Team Australia Subaru Impreza WRC2005 MON
6 		ESP
11 		FRA
13
GER

8 		10th 20
Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2006 SWE
11 		MEX
7 		ARG
6 		ITA
10 		GRE
11 		FIN
13 		JPN
4 		CYP
9 		TUR
6 		AUS
9 		NZL
Ret
GBR

6
2007
 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2006 MON
4 		SWE
8 		NOR
19 		7th 31
Subaru Impreza WRC2007 MEX
5
POR

Ret 		ARG
7 		ITA
10 		GRE
6 		FIN
4
GER

15 		NZL
4 		ESP
8 		FRA
6 		JPN
Ret 		IRE
42
GBR

7
2008
 Subaru World Rally Team Subaru Impreza WRC2007 MON
3 		SWE
21 		MEX
2 		ARG
2 		JOR
3 		ITA
6 		5th 50
Subaru Impreza WRC2008 GRE
Ret 		TUR
13 		FIN
3
GER

6 		NZL
Ret 		ESP
7 		FRA
6 		JPN
4
GBR

Ret
2009
 Citroën Junior Team Citroën C4 WRC IRE
5 		NOR CYP
POR
 ARG ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP GBR 14th 4
2012
Monster World Rally Team
 Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE MEX
Ret 		POR ARG GRE NZL 13th 28
Qatar World Rally Team Citroën DS3 WRC FIN
39
WRC Team Mini Portugal Mini John Cooper Works WRC GER
5 		GBR
11
FRA

8
ITA

6
ESP

7
2013
 Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE MEX
6 		POR ARG GRE
ITA
 FIN GER AUS FRA
ESP
 GBR 16th 8
2014
 Hyundai Shell World Rally Team Hyundai i20 WRC MON SWE MEX
7 		POR ARG
ITA
 POL FIN GER AUS
10 		FRA
ESP
 GBR 18th 7

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

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

(key)

Supercar

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 GRC Points
2016
Subaru Rally Team USA
 Subaru Impreza WRX STi PHO1
 PHO2
 DAL
 DAY1
 DAY2
 MCAS1
 MCAS2
C
 DC
 AC
11 		SEA
6 		LA1
7 		LA2
7 		11th 88
2017
Subaru Rally Team USA
 Subaru Impreza WRX STI MEM
9 		LOU
 THO1
7 		THO2
3 		OTT1
4 		OTT2
9 		INDY
8 		AC1
9 		AC2
4 		SEA1
3 		SEA2
5 		LA
9 		7th 585

Complete Americas Rallycross Championship results

Supercar

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2018
Subaru Rally Team USA
 Subaru Impreza WRX STi GBR
8 		COTA1
6 		CAN
5 		COTA2
7 		5th 66
2019
Subaru Rally Team USA
 Subaru Impreza WRX STi MO1
6
GTW1

1
GTW1

4 		CAN
4 		COTA
5 		MO2
1 		2nd 131

Career highlights

Atkinson and co-driver Glenn MacNeall in their Subaru Impreza WRC2006 during the 2006 Cyprus Rally.
  • 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
2012
 Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ Crash.net – Atkinson wins APRC title Retrieved 29 October 2012
  2. ^ a b "Chris Atkinson secures factory MINI WRC drive". AUSmotive.com. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. ^ [1] Archived 25 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Bond University – Community Newsletter, February 2006". Enews.bond.edu.au. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  5. ^ "Atko joins Citroen". RallySportMag.com.au. 25 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 January 2009. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
  6. ^ "Atkinson secures Citroën drive for Rally Finland". AUSmotive.com. 16 August 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Motorsports | Subaru Global". Subaru-msm.com. 19 June 2006. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  8. ^ www.natsoft.com.au https://web.archive.org/web/20120420032745/http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?12%2F07%2F2009.TVSC.R7. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

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