INDIA in F1

Category: Indians Abroad

News about Indians racing in different motorsports events abroad

  • Russell tops Free Practice at Spielberg; Maini 17th

    Russell tops Free Practice at Spielberg; Maini 17th

    George Russell tops Round 6 Free Practice on Friday. Image by Zak Mauger / FIA Formula 2

    Spielberg, 29 June 2018: ART Grand Prix’s George Russell opened the FIA Formula 2 Championship round at Spielberg, Austria with the quickest time in Free Practice, setting a 1:14.159 in the first 15 minutes of the session to spend the majority of the running in first place. DAMS’ Alexander Albon slotted into second place, missing out on Russell’s time by two tenths as Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) took third.

    On a fully-dry circuit, after the rain had fallen earlier in the day, Jack Aitken (ART) was first onto the track – quickly followed by compatriots Russell and Lando Norris (Carlin). The first few drivers opened the session with reconnaissance laps, leaving Santino Ferrucci to set the first hot lap. Bringing the pace into the 1m16s, Aitken dumped the American driver out of top spot before Ferrucci reclaimed the early advantage.
    Albon then thrust his way past Ferrucci’s benchmark by over half a second, before Norris became the first man to break into the 1m14s. Control over the session then began to change hands multiple times; Nyck de Vries (PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing) pipped Norris for the top spot before Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) burst past the Dutchman to lead the way. The trio was then put in the shade by Russell, who pumped in the best time of the session at the 15-minute mark to lead proceedings.
    Russell’s lap was under fire from Albon, but the Thai driver couldn’t surpass his championship rival despite a session-best middle sector. Looking to cement his advantage ahead of the pack, Russell began to go even quicker, but ran wide at the penultimate corner and was ultimately unable to improve.
    The timing boards remained stagnant thereafter as the focus switched to race pace, with further drivers getting caught out on the final sector; Artem Markelov (RUSSIAN TIME) hopping over the kerb and briefly becoming airborne, while Aitken was a frequent visitor to the run-off. In the final ten minutes, Nirei Fukuzumi (BWT Arden) came to a stop on the exit of Turn 4, prompting a virtual safety car period which ended any hopes of further improvement from the drivers – Russell remaining at the top of the session.
    Albon and Merhi beat Sette Camara to the top three, as de Vries completed the session fifth ahead of Norris and Antonio Fuoco of Charouz Racing System. Markelov was eighth quickest, with Aitken and BWT Arden’s Maximilian Gunther completing the top ten.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 6 – Spielberg, Austria – Free Practice Classification
    Driver
    Team
    Time
    Laps
    1
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    1:14.159
    27
    2
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    1:14.321
    25
    3
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    1:14.418
    24
    4
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    1:14.510
    26
    5
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:14.603
    24
    6
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    1:14.631
    24
    7
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    1:14.649
    24
    8
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:14.809
    21
    9
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    1:14.838
    19
    10
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    1:14.845
    25
    11
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    1:14.853
    28
    12
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    1:14.993
    21
    13
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    1:15.122
    25
    14
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    1:15.318
    21
    15
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    1:15.359
    27
    16
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    1:15.401
    26
    17
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    1:15.488
    26
    18
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    1:15.591
    18
    19
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:15.796
    21
    20
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
  • Podium for Bengaluru schoolboy Ruhaan Alva

    Podium for Bengaluru schoolboy Ruhaan Alva

    San Giuseppe (Italy), 25 June 2018: India’s Ruhaan Alva enjoyed a fairly successful weekend with a podium finish in the fifth round of the Easykart Italian Championship at the Circuit Pomposa, near here on Sunday.

    Ruhaan, a 12-year old schoolboy from Bengaluru, supported by Play Factory and Birel Art India, showed good pace throughout the weekend to finish first runner-up in the 100cc category for his first podium of the 2018 championship.

    Earlier, Ruhaan qualified sixth for the pre-final round where he finished fourth. He was running third at one point but was tapped from behind which saw him drop to sixth. However, he fought his way back to end up fourth.

    In the final, Ruhaan yet again made places and was all set to catch up the third-placed driver. At this juncture, the two drivers in front retired due to mechanical problems and Ruhaan found himself in second place as he crossed the finish line.

    “I am very happy to get back on the podium. My performance this weekend was quite good, though it could have been better. However, the podium has given me lot of confidence after having finished ninth in the previous two rounds. I look to carrying forward this momentum into the next round in July,” said Ruhaan.

    Ruhaan next heads to Adria International Raceway where the sixth round of the championship is scheduled for July 14-15.

  • De Vries charges to first win of 2018 with large margin; F2 Sprint; Arjun Maini 11th

    Le Castellet (France), 24 June 2018: Nyck de Vries was rampant in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Le Castellet, France, storming to his first championship win of 2018. Making a number of crucial overtakes at the beginning of the race, the PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing driver won by 9.6 seconds over second-placed Louis Delétraz, as Luca Ghiotto collected consecutive third place finishes. Indian racer Arjun Maini  of Trident team, finished 13th in Sprint Race.
    Feature Race winner George Russell was immediately thrust out of contention having encountered technical difficulties, before a flurry of unfortunate events preceded the start – Nirei Fukuzumi was unable to pull away for the formation lap, in which Jack Aitken spun and was unable to get going. At the start, polesitter Tadasuke Makino was immediately swamped by the cars around him, falling to fifth as fellow front-row starter Nicholas Latifi assumed control of the lead, with Delétraz, de Vries and Ghiotto slotting in behind the Canadian driver.
    Delétraz immediately displayed a pace advantage over Latifi, winding the lead to within DRS range as de Vries dropped back – giving the Swiss driver free reign to challenge into the Mistral chicane; a lap three attempt to pass served as a reconnaissance mission, with Delétraz taking advantage on the following tour of the circuit to breeze past Latifi for the lead. No sooner had the DAMS driver lost the lead, he had de Vries to contend with as Déletraz scampered up the road from the pair.
    On the sixth lap, Latifi lost out once more at the same corner as de Vries made a successful play for second, immediately working on overturning Delétraz’s advantage – which now stood at 2.3s. Behind them, Makino was in danger of haemorrhaging further positions to the chasing Antonio Fuoco and Sergio Sette Camara, before a mechanical problem left the Japanese driver to retreat to the pitlane. The battle quickly returned to three contenders, as Lando Norris cleared Maximilian Gunther and subsequently charged up to the rear of Sette Camara.
    At the midpoint of the race, de Vries had unlocked further pace from his PREMA car and started to close in on Delétraz with a clear speed advantage over the Charouz driver. Further down the field, Sette Camara was throwing the kitchen sink at Fuoco, who proved to be uncooperative in the Brazilian’s pursuit of progress through the pack. The action continued around the midway mark, Latifi falling further down the order after Ghiotto wrested control of third.
    On lap 13, de Vries was immediately on the back of Delétraz, and the Dutchman forced his way through at turn 5 to seize control of the lead – quickly building a solid buffer to consolidate his position. Sette Camara’s efforts to pass Fuoco were less successful, allowing Norris to enter the frame and peeling his Carlin teammate’s attention away from the back of the Ferrari junior driver.
    Norris then made a move on Sette Camara into the Mistral chicane and, although he faced resistance over the following corners, the British driver retained his position and wrested control of sixth. Meanwhile, de Vries was imperious in the lead, opening a heady advantage to Déletraz – who had begun to struggle, losing time to the chasing Ghiotto.
    With the battle among the front three stagnating, Latifi’s regression through the field left him to fall victim to Fuoco, with Norris next to get the Force India reserve driver in his sights. Making a pass ahead of turn 1, Latifi attempted to regain the slipstream from Norris to switch back, but instead clipped his rear and locked up heavily with front-wing damage to fall down the order.
    Avoiding the various skirmishes behind him, de Vries breezed to victory with almost ten seconds in his pocket over Delétraz, who crossed the line just two-tenths ahead of Ghiotto. Fuoco held on for fourth, with Norris and Sette Camara unable to clear the Charouz driver. Alexander Albon recovered to seventh, with Latifi rounding out the top eight.
    Norris continues to lead the Drivers’ Championship with 104 points, his lead slashed to 11 points by George Russell as Nyck de Vries now occupies third overall with 75 points. Carlin continue their lead of the Teams’ Championship with 172 points, while ART Grand Prix occupy second with 140 – with DAMS sitting third with 105 points.
    The next round will take place from 30 June – 2 July from Spielberg, Austria, with the verdant hills around the Styrian mountains providing a stunning backdrop for what promises to be another thrilling weekend.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 5 – Sprint Race Provisional Classification
    Driver
    Team
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    2
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    3
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    4
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    5
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    6
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    7
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    8
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    9
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    10
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    11
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    12
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    13
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    14
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    15
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    16
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    17
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    18
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    —
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    —
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix

  • Russell, the ART GP driver grabs third F2 win in dry/wet race; Arjun Maini 11th

    La Castellet, 24 June 2018: George Russell produced a stunning drive in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race at Le Castellet, France, overcoming tricky conditions and a late assault from Sergio Sette Camara to clinch his third victory of the season. Carlin’s Sette Camara pushed Russell all the way to the finish, while MP Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi secured his second podium of the year with a third place finish from P15 on the grid.
    Indian racer Arjun Maini of Trident finished 11th.
    With the threat of rain looming, the formation lap got underway with Antonio Fuoco requiring a quick jump-start from a mechanic as the lights turned green, earning himself an immediate stop-go penalty in the process. At the lights, Russell produced an immaculate start to maintain the lead into turn 1, as Sette Camara surged into second ahead of Alexander Albon while both Lando Norris and Artem Markelov stalled on the grid.
    Immediately, rain started to appear, catching a number of drivers out on the opening lap as the track surface quickly became slippery – Nicholas Latifi having a momentary off before Luca Ghiotto suffered from a spin – luckily pirouetting to face the right way. After just three laps, Russell made his advantage at the front clear, opening a 3 second gap to Sette Camara, with Albon remaining in pursuit of the pair.
    With conditions getting more difficult with each passing lap, a number of drivers endured moments off the circuit. Jack Aitken passed Louis Déletraz for fourth place at the start of lap four, but later went off at Signes having lost grip and allowing the Swiss driver to challenge once more – with Nyck de Vries, Sean Gelael and Roberto Merhi joining the same battle. With the cars ahead of him sustaining their own forays off the circuit, Merhi managed to tentatively make his way through the pack – Gelael’s spin bringing out the first virtual safety car.
    At the front, Russell elected to remain on his supersoft tyres, while Norris, Aitken and Roy Nissany made gambles on the wet-weather tyres – Norris and Aitken returning for slicks one lap later as the rain began to clear. With the front two yet to stop, Albon pitted for the medium compound, returning to the circuit sixth before a second VSC period – brought out for the stranded Ralph Boschung, who stopped on the start-finish straight.
    At the end of the VSC, Albon put his fresh tyres to work and set about winding Russell and Sette Camara in. Passing Déletraz, the DAMS driver sustained a mechanical issue which ended his progress and left him to retreat to the pits. This left Sette Camara free to challenge Russell, the former pitting at the end of lap 17 to attempt an undercut on the ART driver’s advantage. Covering him off, Russell collected fresh mediums on the following lap, retaining the lead with a 3.4s advantage – with the yet-to-pit de Vries in third.
    With the stops completed, the pendulum was arguably in Sette Camara’s favour, and the Brazilian clocked a new fastest lap to reel Russell in. The British driver hit back, opening up the lead once more, and the two were left unchallenged at the front after de Vries made his pitstop on lap 24 – having opted for an alternate strategy by starting on the medium tyres. This shuffled Merhi up to third, with de Vries dropping behind Fuoco – who had battled to fifth despite his earlier penalty.
    As the race entered its final five laps, Sette Camara began to turn the screw on Russell, taking chunks out of the race leader’s gap before locking up at the Mistral chicane and carrying on. Having been investigated by the stewards, Sette Camara was deemed not to have gained an advantage, leaving him to bear down on Russell once more in the dying stages.
    On the final lap, Russell managed to avert being within Sette Camara’s DRS range, but struggled to keep him behind; on the final corner, Sette Camara made a last-ditch lunge down the inside, but Russell held on to cross the line to claim his third F2 victory, Sette Camara having to be content with second on his return from injury. Merhi, having kept his nose clean in the early stages, clinched third – albeit 32 seconds further behind – while Ghiotto shook off his early spin to finish in fourth.
    Fuoco took fifth place from de Vries – who claimed the fastest lap – with Louis Deletraz leaving the Dutchman in a Charouz Racing System sandwich, while Nicholas Latifi claimed eighth place at the death from Tadasuke Makino; the RUSSIAN TIME driver made a move on Latifi on the final lap at the Mistral chicane, but the Canadian refused to give up and streaked past Makino on the outside of turn 10 to clinch reverse-grid pole for tomorrow’s Sprint race, as Nirei Fukuzumi captured the final point.
    With further chances of rain in tomorrow’s race, and with many of the championship’s front-runners occupying places further down the grid, there’s certainly everything to play for on Sunday morning.
    2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 5 – Le Castellet, France – Feature Race
    Driver
    Team
    1
    George Russell
    ART Grand Prix
    2
    Sergio Sette Camara
    Carlin
    3
    Roberto Merhi
    MP Motorsport
    4
    Luca Ghiotto
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    5
    Antonio Fuoco
    Charouz Racing System
    6
    Nyck de Vries
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
    7
    Louis Deletraz
    Charouz Racing System
    8
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    9
    Tadasuke Makino
    RUSSIAN TIME
    10
    Nirei Fukuzumi
    BWT Arden
    11
    Arjun Maini
    Trident
    12
    Jack Aitken
    ART Grand Prix
    13
    Maximilian Gunther
    BWT Arden
    14
    Santino Ferrucci
    Trident
    15
    Artem Markelov
    RUSSIAN TIME
    16
    Roy Nissany
    Campos Vexatec Racing
    17
    Lando Norris
    Carlin
    —
    Alexander Albon
    DAMS
    —
    Ralph Boschung
    MP Motorsport
    —
    Sean Gelael
    PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
  • Kush Maini impresses again with his 7th podium of the year; also sets lap record

    Kush Maini impresses again with his 7th podium of the year; also sets lap record

    Kush Maini on the podium at Silverstone

    Silverstone, 11 June 2018: Kush Maini’s rich vein of form continued with yet another couple of podiums on the race weekend, this time at the historic Silverstone track, making it 7 podiums in four rounds of the BRDC British F3 championship. The JK Racing-supported driver finished P2 in a tight Race 1, and ended the weekend with a strong P3 finish in Race 3, solidifying his third place in the driver’s standings with 227 points.

    Maini started the weekend on a high, with a strong qualifying session where he was on top for the most part only to be pushed down to P2 with five minutes to go, he ended up behind Lundqvist in the session, just 0.051s off pole.

    Race 1 began with Lundqvist and Kush making good starts off the line, and saw Lundqvist pull away after the first lap. Kush closed the gap on the race leader with some quick laps, one if which saw him create a new BRDC British F3 lap record around the newly resurfaced Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in the process. He finished just 0.392s off the P1, making this his sixth podium of the championship.

    Race 2 saw Kush start at the back of the pack from P16, owing to the reverse grid format of the F3. An early incident in the race meant he had to recover and fight back to gain a couple of places and finish the race in P14.

    Race 3 however saw Kush start from pole, on account of his record breaking lap in Race 1. A strong start for Tom Gamble, meant Kush lost one place off the line and while trying to regain this position, Kush veered off course, dropping to P3 by the end of lap 1. Some exciting but disciplined driving ensured that he finished on the podium yet again, keeping him in the hunt for the driver’s championship.

    Talking about his weekend, Kush Maini said: “The first race was good for us with promising speed. The second race was tricky, we got a good start but three into one corner doesn’t go, but it was a racing incident. We put that behind us and started on pole for race three because of the fastest lap. I didn’t get off the line well and then had a bit of a tussle through Maggots and Becketts but we can only take the positives from this weekend, we’re still third in the championship with a bit of a margin, but I think we can keep pushing and I’m going to give it my all every race, and that’s all I can do.”

    The next round of BRDC F3 Championship will take place at the legendary Spa circuit towards the end of July.

  • MRF, Gaurav Gill pleased with performance of tyres on WRC debut in Rally Italia Sardegna

    MRF, Gaurav Gill pleased with performance of tyres on WRC debut in Rally Italia Sardegna

    Gaurav Gill in action during the Rall Italia Sardegna where he and MRF Tyres made their WRC debut.

    Alghero, 10 June 2018: It was a successful debut in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for MRF Tyres in the Rally Italia Sardegna held over the weekend. MRF Tyres joined the current World Rally Champions M-Sport outfit to run a Fiesta R5 car on the Italian roads with Indian Gaurav Gill behind the wheel. His co-driver, Australian Glenn Macneall has a long history in the WRC and brought valuable experience to the team.

    Gill and Macneall put in a string of fast stage times, finishing inside the top 10 of their class across all the Saturday and Sunday stages.

    “It was a tough event – this is the toughest of the WRC events across the season and the MRF Tyres performed well on the rough roads,” Gill said. “I am very happy with where we sit after our first event. We took fourth in our category on stage 13 and today we continued to set very good times. The conditions today were very hot, much warmer than over the rest of the weekend but the roads were a little smoother. It is great to make it to this point and I am looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the MRF Tyres Ford Fiesta R5 at our next WRC event.”

    The MRF Tyres team was happy with the progress with the rally showing development opportunities while showing the tyres are strong and consistent.

    “Our tyres were able to withstand the tough demand of the WRC – the toughest motorsport competition in the world. The MRF Tyres were able to withstand rocks, ruts and boulders without a single issue,” he added.

    With the data and confidence that MRF Tyres and Gaurav Gill with Glenn Macneall gained from Rally Italia Sardegna, the team are looking forward to future events.

    This is the first of four events for MRF Tyres in the WRC this year as the team aims to gain more data, experience and speed for the 2019 season.

    MRF Tyres Press Release

  • Rally Italia Sardegna: Gaurav Gill shows good pace; Ogier, Neuville locked for title

    Rally Italia Sardegna: Gaurav Gill shows good pace; Ogier, Neuville locked for title

    Gaurav Gill with M-Sport team principal Malcolm Wilson, OBE, at the Rally Italia Sardegna. Photo: M-Sport

    Alghero, 09 June 2018: Having taken a restart after retiring yesterday following a hard nose-dive on SS-5, Indian champion Gaurav Gill showed why his credentials should not be taken lightly as the three times Asia Pacific Rally Champion showed impressive pace to end Leg 2 of the Rally Italia Sardegna in 14th spot among RC2 cars.

    Gill, the 36-year old from Delhi, backed by MRF Tyres and with Aussie Glenn Macneall as his co-driver, enjoyed a much better outing in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 today when seven Special Stages were run and despite suffering mechanical problems early in the day.

    He was 11th quickest in SS-11, 10th in SS-12, fourth in SS-13, ninth in SS-14, 10th in SS-15 and ninth in SS-16 to finish Leg 2 in 15th position. Having re-started under Super Rally format, but with a heavy time penalty, Gill seemed determined to show that he belonged at this level and his pace on some of the Stages underlined the long-held belief that he could more than hold his own on the World stage.

    As a non-priority driver, Gill, participating in WRC 2 is not eligible for points, but will be classified.

    World champion Sebastien Ogier looking hot . Photo: WRC

    Ogier leads Neuville by just 3.9secs in WRC!

    Title rivals Sebastien Ogier and Theirry Neuville face a thrilling final day victory showdown after gripping duel in the sun on Saturday. They traded seconds across seven dusty and rocky speed tests in the north of the Mediterranean island before Ogier finished with a slender 3.9sec advantage. Neuville, who heads Ogier in the WRC championship battle by 19 points, claimed three stage victories in his Hyundai i20, compared to Ogier’s two at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta.

    Ogier extended his overnight advantage to almost 20sec before an overly-cautious drive through the famous Monte Lerno stage cut his lead to less than 5sec. As temperatures soared this afternoon, in contrast to yesterday’s torrential rain, both had problems. Ogier stalled his engine at the Ittiri stage start while Neuville punctured in the next test. With just one spare tyre onboard, he had no room for error in the final two stages.

    “It’s so tight,” said Ogier. “It was a big push for me this afternoon because I was so angry with the last stage this morning. All the time I lost to Thierry was there. There’s pressure but it’s been like that all weekend and if we want to win we’ll have to fight for it.”

    Thierry Neuville pushing hard. Photo: WRC

    Neuville said: “I knew if I had one more puncture I would lose a lot of time but it was our decision to carry on pushing. That was the risk we had to take and we managed it well – there were a couple of stones I had to avoid. The fight is open and tomorrow will be intense.”

    There were battles across the leaderboard. Jari-Matti Latvala and Toyota Gazoo team-mate Esapekka Lappi fought tooth and nail for the final podium place. Latvala’s lead never rose above 7.0sec and he ended the final stage with a 5.3sec advantage.

    However, his Yaris stopped on the liaison section back to Alghero with an alternator problem, believed to have been caused by an impact with a rock. Despite the efforts of the Finn and co-driver Miikka Anttila, they could not restart the car and retired.

    Hayden Paddon and Mads Østberg dueled for what became fourth following Latvala’s exit. Østberg began the day in front in his Citroën C3, but his Kiwi rival moved his i20 ahead and held off the Norwegian’s afternoon pursuit. The gap between them was 2.1sec.

    Craig Breen was sixth in another C3 after a frustrating day, ahead of WRC 2 leader Jan Kopecký. Ott Tänak recovered to eighth after yesterday’s engine damage, despite stopping to change a puncture in the final stage. Martin Prokop and Nicolas Ciamin completed the top 10.

    Sunday’s short finale comprises two loops of two stages along the coast north of Alghero. They add up to 42.04km, the action ending with a spectacular Power Stage which runs alongside the beach and offers bonus points to the fastest five drivers.

  • Gaurav Gill’s debut WRC 2 campaign ends in crash; Ogier takes slender lead in WRC

    Gaurav Gill’s debut WRC 2 campaign ends in crash; Ogier takes slender lead in WRC

    Sebastien Ogier on a late charge to lead Rally Italia Sardegna. Photo: WRC

    Alghero, 08 June 2018: Indian champion Gaurav Gill’s WRC 2 debut ended in a disaster as he damaged the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 following a heavy nose landing on SS-5 on the second day of the Rally Italia Sardegna on Friday. He was docked a time penalty of seven minutes plus the time of the fastest in the Stage. After Leg 1, the MRF Tyres driver was placed 15th among all the RC2 cars.

    Gill’s campaign had begun on a promising note on Saturday night when he was placed ninth in the RC2 category after the 2 Kms Super Special Stage before heading out to the Special Stages today.

    Through Friday’s first four Stages, Gill kept himself within sight of top-10, but the heavy nose-landing on SS-5 effectively put an end to his campaign. However, he was still classified under the Super Rally format. In all there were as many 10 retirements after 45 cars took the start early morning.

    Meanwhile, in WRC, World champion Sebastien Ogier, driving the M-Sport Ford Fiesta, enjoyed a lead of 18.9 seconds over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20) with Jari-Matti Latvala (Toyota Yaris) a further 18.3 seconds adrift.

    The turning point for Ogier came in the latter part of the day when he soared from fifth to first but even he found the muddy roads tough to master. “I did no mistakes but it wasn’t possible to push. It was super tricky,” admitted the Ford Fiesta pilot.

    Further torrential rain just before the second pass of the 22.12 Kms Tula test made conditions even more treacherous than this morning. The five-time World champion took charge with a stunning time more than 12sec quicker than anyone else.

    His joy contrasted with the disappointment of Andreas Mikkelsen. Starting the stage with a 14.0 sec advantage, the Norwegian firstly overshot a junction and then completed the stage having reportedly lost second gear in his Hyundai i20. A half spin towards the end of Castelsardo brought the car to a halt and he retired after being unable to restart.

    Tula became increasingly slippery with the passage of every car and the time gaps were big. Neuville lost vital seconds after spinning his i20 but third fastest through Castelsardo, which ironically was dry and dusty in places, kept him second, 10.9sec behind Ogier.

    Ott Tänak made changes to his differential at service in a bid to make his Toyota Yaris turn into corners better. The Estonian was third, a further 4.1sec back and still frustrated at being unable to match the pace of those ahead.

    Latvala took the day’s last Stage with a stunning drive to ease past Tanak into third place behind Origer and Neuville.

    In WRC 2, which saw lead changing hands through the day, Stephane Lefebvre (Citroen C3 R5) firmly in front, enjoying a lead of 14 seconds over Jan Kopecky (Skoda Fabia R5) who in turn led third-placed Nicolas Ciamin (Hyundai i20) by over a minute.

  • Rally Italia Sardegna: Gaurav Gill shows his pace in shakedown for 11th in RC2 category

    Rally Italia Sardegna: Gaurav Gill shows his pace in shakedown for 11th in RC2 category

    Gaurav Gill. Photo: Anand Philar

    Bengaluru, 07 June 2018: Indian ace Gaurav Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall) of Team MRF Tyres, marked his debut in WRC 2 with a best of two minutes, 07.3 seconds in Thursday’s shakedown at the 3.51 Kms Olmeda test in damp conditions ahead of Rally Italia Sardegna which commences tonight with the Super Special Stages before the competitors negotiate the Special Stages over the next three days.

    He finished the shakedown session overall 24th out of 41 starters and 11th in the RC2 category (WRC 2, R5 cars), missing the top-10 by a mere 10th of a second.

    Gill, the 36-year old Delhi-based triple Asia Pacific Rally Championship winner, started his shakedown with a timing of 02:16.4 in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 and dramatically improved his pace by clocking 02:09.2 in his second run before going even quicker in his third attempt with a 02:07.3.

    His best timing put him just outside the top-10 in the RC2 category where his former APRC team-mate Ole Christian Veiby in a Skoda Fabia R5 was among the quickest in 02:03.08. Incidentally, Gill was way quicker than European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, the 39-year old from Poland, also in a Ford Fiesta R5 and in his first WRC 2 participation.

    The Rally Italia Sardegna will officially start at 5 pm (8.30 pm IST) from the Alghero seafront. Then, SS1 “Ittiri Arena Show” will follow at 6 pm (9.30 pm IST) on live TV on FOX Sports and the national channel RAI Sport.

    Over the weekend, the competitors will tackle 20 stages totalling 314.36 Kms of competitive action with 36.51 Kms of the route new for this year.

  • MRF Tyres and Gaurav Gill set for historic WRC debut in Rally Italia Sardegna

    MRF Tyres and Gaurav Gill set for historic WRC debut in Rally Italia Sardegna

    Gaurav Gill (right) and co-driver Glenn Macneall with the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5

    By Anand Philar

    Bengaluru, 05 June 2018: Come this weekend, India will be marking her presence on one of motorsport’s biggest stages, the FIA World Rally Championship as MRF Tyres and Gaurav Gill will take the start in Rally Italia Sardegna, albeit in the non-priority WRC2 category.

    MRF Tyres have linked up with WRC’s top team, UK-based M-Sport who also manage the reigning World champion Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, to run four gravel rounds this season which will serve as a platform to do some R & D on their tyres before participating in the full season next year.

    Gill, along with his long-time co-driver Glenn Macneall with whom he won two of the three FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship titles, will be piloting the M-Sport R5 Ford Fiesta. The 36-year old Delhi-based Indian did two days of testing in the forests of Cumbria, UK, last week before heading to the island of Sardegna.

    MRF, after having won nine APRC titles since their debut in 2002 and as such, the move to WRC was to be expected with Gill as their driver mascot, though it meant loads of preparatory work by way of making tyres to WRC standards and competing against established global brands such as Michelin and D-Mack. Participation in four gravel rounds mean generating data on tyres over 1,200 Kms of Special Stages.

    Besides Sardegna, MRF and Gill plan to take part in Rally of Finland (July 26-29), Wales Rally GB (October 4-7) and Rally Australia (November 15-18).

    So, what is in store for Gill in Sardegna? First, being a non-priority entry, Gill will start the rally from the last group, behind WRC (priority 1), WRC2 (priority 2) and WRC3 (priority 3), and this could be a disadvantage since the surface would have been chewed up by the cars that preceded him. As per the official list published, Rally Italia has 50 entries of which 28 enjoy “priority” status as mentioned above. The non-priority category has four WRC-spec entries, nine R5 cars and nine more in the RC2/3/4/5, NR4/R3T/R2/R1 class.

    Rally Italia Sardegna service park. Photo: Rally Italia website

    Second, Gill faces another disadvantage of not having sufficient seat time in the Ford Fiesta R5, but he was in similar situation in the APRC too, driving the Skoda Fabia R5. Third, the ecosystem of the WRC takes some getting used to though Gill had taken part in three WRC rounds in the Production (now WRC2) class, back in 2008 and 2009, courtesy Bengaluru-based Sidvin Core-Tech.

    Yet, you can’t put anything past Gill who over the years has, like good wine, matured into a World-class rally driver. “It is not just about raw speed for me today. I have evolved over the years along with the sport itself which I think is the key to where I am now. Moving on to WRC2 will no doubt present fresh challenges, but I take comfort in the fact that I have raced against some of the current top drivers in APRC and also beaten them. However, I do not entertain any high expectations for this season as the focus will also be on tyre R & D. Yes, it will be a steep learning curve for me and also MRF, but I am looking forward to the challenge,” Gill told me during a recent conversation.

    To say the obvious, it will be a tough going in Rally Italia Sardegna, but, given the circumstances, if you can bet on one driver to deliver a strong performance, then my man is Gaurav Gill. WRC has been a long time coming, but as Gill agreed, better late than never.

    RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA DETAILS

    Rally Italia Sardegna comprises 20 Special Stages totalling over 313 Kms on gravel roads and the temperatures will be high. After the Super Special Stage on Thursday at the rally cross circuit of Ittiri, Friday features four Stages, each run twice. On Saturday, the competitors will do seven Special Stages covering over 146 Kms while Sunday will see four Stages.