How the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship works, and where India fits in

The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship is the FIA's regional rally title for this half of the world, the eastern cousin of the European Rally Championship. It is a small championship, and for an Indian crew it is the most realistic international rally title to chase, because one of its rounds happens at home.

The short answer

The 2026 season was built around four rounds, as listed on the championship's own calendar: the Otago Rally in New Zealand in April, the South India Rally in Chennai a week later, the Sumatera Utara Rally in Indonesia in August and Rally Longyou in China at the end of October. The FIA's 2026 season page for the championship lists that China finale as cancelled.

Scoring is simple and unforgiving. Every result counts and no scores are dropped, so a bad weekend in April still sits on your tally in November. A rally win paid 30 points in 2026, second place 24 and third 21. After three rounds Jeet Jhabakh led on 43 points from Spain's Edgar Vigo Lopez on 38, with Karna Kadur and New Zealander Jack Stokes tied on 30.

The Chennai round, and why it is the way in

India's round is the South India Rally, run by the Madras Motor Sports Club at and around the Madras International Circuit. The 2026 edition was the 49th, and it did three jobs at once: round 2 of the APRC, the opening round of the APRC Asia Cup and the opening round of the FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship. That is the part that matters to a local crew. One entry and one car can score in a national championship and an FIA regional one on the same weekend.

The format was a Friday afternoon ceremonial start with two runs of a 1.45 km super special stage, then 129.32 competitive kilometres on Saturday and Sunday. The rally drew 35 entries in all, including six women, with six crews registered for APRC points.

Karna Kadur and Kumar Ramaswamy won it in a Volkswagen Polo 1.0 TSI, despite a turbo failure 700 metres into Sunday's second stage that their crew fixed at the service break. Jeet Jhabakh and Musa Sherif were second in a Hyundai i20 R5, 5m 02.5s behind. Edgar Vigo Lopez and Fatima Ameneiro Teijeiro took third at 5m 52.3s. Defending champion Gaurav Gill led after Friday's super special with Srikanth Gowda, then retired on the final day with a mechanical failure.

What you run, and what it takes to register

The car rules are what keep the championship alive. In Indonesia the win went to Musa Rajekshah and Hervian Soejono in a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, ahead of a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and a Ford Fiesta Rally3. In Chennai the winning car was a two-wheel-drive Polo, and Jhabakh's i20 R5 was the only four-wheel-drive car in the APRC field.

That mix is possible because the championship accepts national and regional cars alongside FIA Rally2, Rally3 and Rally4 machinery. The APRC competitor information page carries the 2026 registration form, the FIA Regional Rally Sporting Regulations and a car acceptance form for those national and regional cars, which is the paperwork route for an INRC-built Polo to score regional points.

Sources

• FIA APRC official site, 2026 calendar and standings
• Kadur survives turbo drama to win in Chennai, FIA APRC
• Gill and Kadur headline return to Chennai, FIA APRC
• Internationals campaign at 50th Otago Rally, FIA APRC
• Rajekshah takes dramatic home win, FIA APRC
• FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship 2026 season page
• FIA APRC competitor information