The FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship is one of the FIA's four regional championships, alongside Middle East, African and European championships and these are only second to the global World Rally Championship in the hierarchy of rallying world. As its name indicates, APRC tours around Asia and Pacific Rim. The series was founded in 1988 and the first champion was Kenjiro Shinozuka who drove the ADVAN shoed Mitsubishi Galant VR-4.

The 2012 championship calendar consists of six rounds and three of them are allocated to Asia and other three to Oceania. The results from all six rounds decides the championship winner but Asia Cup and Pacific Cup are fought by the results in only three rounds in each area mainly for the participants with limited programs.

The series also provides the Junior Cup title. The designated four rounds from the calendar - New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia and Japan - are subject to the fight for the Junior Cup for which only drivers aged at 28 or younger - on January 1st, 2012 - are eligible. It is mandatory for the cup contenders to use two wheel drive cars up to 1600cc. This was established in 2011 and the first cup winner was Akira Bamba.

The Japanese driver returns to the cup contention this year as the reigning champion and continues with a Proton Saturia Neo. However, aiming for winning consecutive titles, his team now has the new name as Proton R3 Cusco Rally Team which means more support from the Malaysian manufacturer.

Each of six rounds on the calendar has very distinctive stage conditions which reflect the geographical and climatic differences between the host countries. And these are often very tough for the drivers because they are faced with a variety of difficulties, such as the roads going through plantation farms in torrid heat in Malaysia, the unpredictable surface conditions in China or the negative cambered high speed corners in Australia.

The participating crews include not a few world level drivers. For example, Karamjit Singh is the ex-P-WRC (FIA Production car World Rally Championship) champion and he beat Bamba in the 2WD Cup title contention last year. Even though it isn't a worldwide championship, the level of competition between the elite drivers is still very high in APRC.

The main weapon for Yokohama tire users in APRC is ADVAN A053. This tire was developed for international gravel rallies and has a good track record, including the victories, even when the tire was still in its prototype phase, in Rally Hokkaido and Cyprus Rally which is famous for its very rough surfaces.

Compared to Japanese domestic rallies, the average speed during stages in international events is much faster and the stages are often considerably longer. So A053 features the excellent controllability and durability, against buried rocks for example, as well as its inherent high grip level. Of course, the tire's design accepts the hand-cutting of extra grooves when the surface conditions require it.

Thus, many drivers in this championship show strong confidence in ADVAN A053, as they have to fight not only with the competitions but with the natural environments in Asia and Oceania which are sometimes harsh and tough.