Christopher James Atkinson (born 30 November 1979 in

Bega, New South Wales Bega () is a town in the south-east of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley Shire. It is the economic centre for the Bega Valley. Place name One claim is that place name ''Bega'' is derived from the local Aboriginal ( Thawa language ...

, Australia) is a professional

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Political demonstration, a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a North American school or college sporting event Sport ...

driver. In the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the oldest FIA world championship after Formula One. E ...

(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 The 2008 Rally México, officially ''22º Corona Rally México'', was the third round of the 2008 World Rally Championship season. The rally was held on February 29 — March 2 and began with a ceremonial start on Thursday, February 28. It was ...

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 The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S20 ...

and made a guest appearance in the

. Atkinson won the 2012 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. 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.

Early career

Prior to his motorsport career, Atkinson had a career as a stockbroker. He graduated at

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

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. Atkinson's 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 In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing "standard" large-scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specifi ...

Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, finishing inside the top ten in

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 is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

, who offered him the opportunity to drive one of its

Super 1600 Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a Rallying, rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any ...

Ignis Ignis (Latin for ''fire'') may refer to: * ''Ignis'' (album), a 2000 album by Paul Giger * Ignis (cycling team), an Italian professional cycling team that existed from 1955 to 1968 * Ignis Scientia, a major character in the ''Final Fantasy XV'' su ...

models with the Suzuki Sport team in the 2003

WRC career

Atkinson's first world rally was in 2004 at the

Rally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. The race is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongsid ...

in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. For 2005, he was signed by Subaru World Rally Team to drive the

Subaru Impreza WRC The Subaru Impreza WRC is a World Rally Car based on the Subaru Impreza road car. It was used by Subaru World Rally Team, Subaru's factory team, and replaced the Subaru Legacy RS in 1993. The car was debuted at 1993 Rally Finland and won a to ...

alongside 2003 world champion

Petter Solberg Petter Solberg (born 18 November 1974), nicknamed "Mr. Hollywood" is a Norwegian former professional rallying, rally and rallycross driver. Solberg debuted in the World Rally Championship in 1998 and was signed by the Ford World Rally Team, For ...

. He finished 12th overall in the drivers' world championship with 13 points. His best results were third in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and fourth in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2 ...

and had to beat him in the

super special stage A special stage (SS) is a section of closed road at a stage rallying event used for timed speed tests. Racers attempt to complete the stage in the shortest time. A race on a special stage is coordinated such that each competing racer begins after a ...

, a 2.4 km run through

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

which uses part of the world-famous

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been 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 The ''57th Neste Oil Rally Finland'' was the 9th round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. It was run on 2–5 August 2007 and based in Jyväskylä, Finland. Results Retirements * Kristian Sohlberg - rolled (SS2); * Jari-Matti Latv ...

, 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. Chris Atkinson - 2008 Rallye Deutschland

Chris Atkinson - 2008 Rallye Deutschland

At the beginning of the 2008 season, Atkinson took third place in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

; while at the 2008 Corona Rally Mexico, Atkinson managed second, 30 seconds ahead of

Jari-Matti Latvala Jari-Matti Latvala (; born 3 April 1985) is a Finnish rally driver who has competed in the World Rally Championship (WRC). His co-driver for most of his career was Miikka Anttila, who co-drove for Latvala between the 2003 Rallye Deutschland and ...

. 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. In his only rally for the season with the team in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, he produced a strong showing to finish fifth, despite colliding with a

telegraph pole A utility pole, commonly referred to as a transmission pole, telephone pole, telecommunication pole, power pole, hydro pole, telegraph pole, or telegraph post, is a column or post used to support overhead power lines and various other public util ...

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 Kenneth Paul Block (November 21, 1967 – January 2, 2023) was an American professional Rallying, rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block was also one of the co-founders of DC Shoe ...

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 Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

DS3 WRC for the Qatar World Rally Team for

Rally Finland Rally Finland (formerly known as the Neste Rally Finland, Neste Oil Rally Finland, 1000 Lakes Rally and Rally of the Thousand Lakes; , ) is a rallying, rally competition in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The rally is driven on wide an ...

. 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. 2012 rallye deutschland by 2eight dsc4764

2012 rallye deutschland by 2eight dsc4764

Atkinson contested the last five rounds of the 2012 WRC season with the Motorsport Italia-run

MINI The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

squad to finish the year 13th in the Championship. His best result for the year was achieved at

Rallye Deutschland The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a Rallying, rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier. Previously part of ...

(Rally Germany) where he secured 5th behind the wheel of the MINI John Cooper Works

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WWRC, a radio station (570 AM) l ...

. Atkinson was snapped up by the Citroën team for

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, however, the team only used him for Rally Mexico, where he finished 6th, 11 minutes off the winner ( Sebastien Ogier).

Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...

hired him mid-year as a test driver for their i20 rally car, which led to a part-time deal for

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In 2014 he raced at the rallies of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and his home event in

, 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

(APRC), Atkinson drove a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, alongside co-driver Stephane Prevot. After making a guest appearance at the

Intercontinental Rally Challenge The Intercontinental Rally Challenge was an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-sanctioned rallying series organised by SRW Events and Eurosport, Eurosport Events, and aimed to "give new opportunities to young or amateur rally drivers ...

(IRC)

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo) is a rallying event organized each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. From its inception in 1911 by Albert I, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert I, the 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 Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and the final round in

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

saw him finish second to his teammate

Alister McRae Alister Ritchie McRae (born 20 December 1970) is a British rally driver from Scotland who competed in the World Rally Championship. He is the son of the five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and the younger brother of the late 1995 ...

who competed in all rounds. Atkinson competed in an Australian-run Skoda in the 2012 FIA

, 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

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

in 2006, Chris made his circuit racing debut driving a Subaru Impreza for the Autosportif Racing UK placing second in class. From that lead a drive in the 2007

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Meguiar's Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for Group GT3, GT and Production car racing, production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, New South ...

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. Atkinson competed in the final four rounds of the

2016 Global RallyCross Championship The 2016 Red Bull Global RallyCross Championship was the sixth season of the Global RallyCross Championship. Scott Speed was the reigning Supercars champion and Oliver Eriksson was the reigning GRC Lites champion. The schedule consisted of twelve ...

, 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

APRC results

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

( key)

Supercar

Complete Americas Rallycross Championship results

Supercar

Career highlights

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

– Winner, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

– 2nd, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

– 5th, Asia-Pacific Rally Championship *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

– 14th, World Rally Championship *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

– 5th, World Rally Championship *

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

– 7th, World Rally Championship *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

– 10th, World Rally Championship *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

– 12th, World Rally Championship *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

– Winner, Asia-Pacific Super 1600 Championship *2004 – Second, Australian Rally Championship *

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

– Winner, Asia-Pacific Super 1600 Championship *2002 – Winner, Australian Privateers Cup

References

Subaru World Rally Team Official Site

Plenty of Rallies for Chris Atkinson in 2011

External links

Chris' official website

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Chris 1979 births Living people Australian rally drivers Bond University alumni Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers People from the South Coast (New South Wales) Racing drivers from New South Wales World Rally Championship drivers Global RallyCross Championship drivers Citroën Racing drivers Hyundai Motorsport drivers