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Tag: Gaurav Gill
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Gaurav Gill and Musa Sherif claim overall title at INRC Nashik leg
Nashik, 15 June 2015: As expected, reigning National champion Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif claimed the Overall title by a sizeable margin in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship which concluded here on Sunday.
Gill, the 33-year old Delhi-based 2013 Asia Pacific champion sealed his fifth Rally of Maharashtra title after the two concluding rounds of the Spectator Special Stage that were run on Sunday, winning by a margin of three minutes, 59 seconds.
While Gill cruised to victory in the Rally organized by the Western India Sports Association, the drive of the day came from Mangaluru’s Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Sathish Rajagopal) who, piloting the Volkswagen Polo R2 made up a 10-second overnight deficit and pipped Mahindra Adventure’s Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) by just one second to finish second Overall.
Ghosh and Aroor were tied going into the final run of the Spectator Special Stage. “I just didn’t think how much time I had to make up, but drove the car to its limits. I am extremely happy that I managed to make one place to finish second,” said Aroor.
Gill was pleased as punch in scoring his 21st win with Sherif over the past eight years. “I just love the Rally of Maharashtra. The Special Stages are very technical and fast which suit my driving style.
Obviously, it is great to start the domestic season on a winning note and we hope to carry forward the momentum,” said Gill.
Finishing behind the top three was Mysuru’s Lohitt Urs (Srikant Gowda) in a Mitsubisihi EVO VIII that arrived in Nashik barely hours before the Rally commenced on Friday.
“Our spares and tyres came only after we completed the first loop of the Stages on Friday. Until then, we were running on street tyres with just 50 litres of fuel to play with. It was tough, but we will do much better in the remaining four rounds of the IRC,” said Urs who came back to rallying after a year’s break.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s Rahul Kanthraj and his co-driver of 15 seasons, Vivek Bhatt, driving a Mitsubishi Cedia for Team Yokohama, comfortably won the IRC 2000cc class where he faced little or no competition.
“We had an excellent outing here in Nashik. Hopefully, we will continue to perform for the rest of the season. The car was superb and so were the Yokohama tyres,” said Kanthraj.
Topping the IRC 1600cc class was 21-year old Dean Mascarenas from Mangaluru and co-driver Sudipta Padival in a VW Polo.
“We are extremely happy to have won the title here and a great start to the new season. We had no issues with our car and except for the mistake in Friday’s Spectator Special Stage when due to an under-steer I crashed into the barriers, everything was just perfect,” said Mascarenhas.
In the FMSCI 1600 Cup, Dhruva C (Jeeva Rathinam) took the honours in the Honda City V-Tec, as he easily held on to a big overnight lead.
Provisional, Final classification:
IRC Overall: Gaurva Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 1 (01 Hr, 31mins, 28secs); Arjun Rao Aroor / Sathish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo R2) 2 (01:35:27); Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 3 (01:35:28).
IRC 2000cc: Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, Cedia) 1 (01:38:06); Hrishikesh Thackersey / Ninad Mirajgaonkar (VW Polo) 2 (01:41:52); Sumit Panjabi / Sagar M (Cedia) 3 (01:43:36).
IRC 1600cc: Dean Mascarenhas / Sudipta Padiwal (VW Polo) 1 (01:38:17); Dr Biku Babu / George Milen (VW Polo) 2 (01:42:12); Vikram Rao Aroor / AG Somayya (VW Polo) 3 (01:44:44).
FMSCI 1600 Cup: Dhruva C /Jeeva Rathinam (Honda City V-Tec) 1 (01:44:49); Ashwin Reddy Daram / Salman Shahid (Rally Cross, Honda City V-Tec) 2 (01:45:43); Adith KC / Harish KN (Kari Sports, Honda City V-Tec) 3 (01:46:10).
eom/FMSCI
Overall winners in the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra which concluded in Nashik on Sunday Gaurav Gill and co-driver Musa Sherif (middle) flanked by second placed Arjun Rao Aroor (extreme left) and Sathish Rajagopal, and third placed Amittrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (right). Image by Anand Philar press release
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Gaurav Gill-Musa Sherif lead Mahindra Adventure Rally: INRC
NASHIK: Reigning National champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) stamped his authority on the Mahindra Adventure Rally of Maharashtra, the second round of the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship, as he all but sealed the Overall title here on Saturday with just 4.06 Kms of the Spectator Special Stage to be run on Sunday.
Although enjoying an overnight advantage of over three minutes, 33-year old Delhi-based Gill, the 2013 champion, representing Team Mahindra Adventure, continued his relentless onslaught to extend his lead to four minutes, two seconds, over team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik).
Gill came up with another near-flawless drive in the Mahindra XUV 500 as he won all the three Special Stages run on Saturday to move closer to retaining his Rally of Maharashtra title.
Ghosh, also piloting the XUV 500, was in second place ahead of Arjun Rao (Satish Naik) in a Volkswagen Polo (R2) who thrilled the crowd by posting tied fastest timing in the first of the three loops of the Spectator Special Stage along with Lohitt Urs (Srikant Gowda) who was in fourth Overall position.
The event concludes on Sunday when two more rounds of the Spectator Special Stage will be run and it is more than likely that the crews will aim to hold their positions to the finish.
Gill said: “Everything went off well for us today. In fact, I think I was faster than yesterday. I also did a bit of R and D on the vehicle, played around with the set-up trying to find more time. We found something new, but obviously I can’t talk about it!”
Ghosh, the 2013 National champion from Kolkata, who had to overcome mechanical problems on Friday, said: “We had no problems today after sorting out the brakes and the gearbox. We had some 25-second lead over Sunny (Sidhu) and I pushed just enough to keep that advantage.”
Mangaluru-based Arjun Rao too was quite satisfied that he could move up a place from fourth to third, edging past Mahindra Adventure’s Sunny Sidhu (PVS Murthy).
“I happy that we had no problems today, except for the fag end of the third Stage when it was drizzling and the surface was a bit slippery. But otherwise, everything went fine for us.”
Bengaluru’s Rahul Kanthraj (Vivek Bhatt) who encountered little or no opposition, consolidated his overnight lead in the IRC 2000cc class, but was fortunate to survive a head-on crash with a mini-van that slid into his Mitsubishi Cedia in the slushy transport section after the day’s final Special Stage.
Kantraj said: “I did not drive very hard since there was nobody to push us. But I think we clocked the same timing as yesterday. We had a close call in the transport run to the Service Park when a mini-van slid into us. Luckily, there was not much damage to our car.”
Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (Sudipta Padiwal) nursed his sizeable overnight lead in the IRC 1600cc class despite crashing into the barrier during the Spectator Special Stage while Dhruva C (Jeeva Rathinam) continued to head the FMSCI 1600 Cup.
Classification (Partial, Leg-2, Unofficial): IRC Overall: Gaurav Gill / Musa Sherif (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 1 (01 Hr, 28mins, 03secs); Amittrajit Ghosh / Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure, Mahindra XUV 500) 2 (01:32:05); Arjun Rao Aroor / Satish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo R2) 3 (01:32:15).
IRC 2000cc: Rahul Kanthraj / Vivek Bhatt (Team Yokohama, Cedia) 1 (01:34:43); Hrishikesh Thackersey / Ninad Mirajgaonkar (VW Polo) 2 (01:38:18); Sumit Panjabi / Sagar M (Cedia) 3 (01:40:01).
IRC 1600cc: Dean Mascarenhas / Sudipta Padiwal (VW Polo) 1 (01:34:57); Dr Biku Babu / George Milen (VW Polo) 2 (01:38:40); Vikram Rao Aroor / AG Somayya (VW Polo) 3 (01:41:11).
FMSCI 1600 Cup: Dhruva C /Jeeva Rathinam (Honda City V-Tec) 1 (01:44:49); Ashwin Reddy Daram / Salman Shahid (Rally Cross, Honda City V-Tec) 2 (01:45:43); Adith KC / Harish KN (Kari Sports, Honda City V-Tec) 3 (01:46:10).
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Gaurav Gill (co-driver Musa Sherif) lead on Sat at Nashik leg of the INRC. Image by Anand Philar -
Team MRF the team to beat in APRC as it looks to 4th straight win
Whangarei, 15 April 2015: Team MRF head into this weekend’s first round of the 2015 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship targeting their fourth successive win in the prestigious series.
The 2013 champion, India’s Gaurav Gill, will head Team MRF’s attack, ably supported by his Skoda Fabia Super 2000 team-mat
File picture of MRF team courtesy MRF. e, Pontus Tidemand, from Sweden. Frenchman, Jean-Louis Leyraud, will drive a third Race Torque-prepared Skoda in New Zealand’s Rally of Whangarei, from April 17 to 19.
Gill will fancy his chances of a second title this year, having won in 2013 and finishing runner-up last year. With experience of the Skoda Fabia S2000 and the events that make up the APRC, he’ll be hard to beat.
But the early season hype has been around his young team-mate, who led the World Rally Championship qualifying Swedish Rally earlier this year. “I’m really looking forward to this new challenge. It makes me incredibly proud to see my name on the list of ŠKODA’s drivers,” Tidemad said. “I have been waiting for a chance like this for years and I will take care of it in the best way I can, both in terms of performance and development, to get a good result for ŠKODA Motorsport.”
Despite not having had any experience with the seven events that make up the APRC, Tidemand will be hoping that he can repeat the performance of last year’s champion, and Team MRF driver, Jan Kopecky, who won on his first attempt. “We will do everything we can to take podiums and victories as soon as possible,” Tidemand’s co-driver, Emil Axelsson, added.
While both Tidemand and Gill will contest all events in the APRC, Leyraud, who is based in New Caledonia, will tackle only those events making up the Pacific Cup component.
In past seasons the Race Torque-prepared Team MRF Skodas have been the cars to beat, and with a proven package, team manager Lane Heenan is hoping for similar success in 2015. “The Skoda Fabia is one of the most successful rally cars in the world at present, with many international victories around the world, and we’re hoping that continues this year.
“We’ll be using the same cars that finished last season so successfully, and with further development we expect to our drivers to be right on the pace again.”
However, the new Fabia R5 is likely to replace the current Super 2000 model before the end of this year’s championship. “We plan to have our team running the new ŠKODA Fabia R 5 in the APRC by the end of the year – after all, the season finale takes place in our most important market, China,” ŠKODA Motorsport Director Michal Hrabánek said.
The Rally of Whangarei commences on the evening of Friday, April 17, with a rally show in central Whangarei, before they attack two passes of the night time Super Special Stage at Pohe Island. Leg one continues on Saturday, heading as far north as Kawakawa for eight special stages on the fast, flowing cambered roads the rally is famous for, while Sunday’s final leg heads south of Whangarei for a further six stages. A total of 282 kilometres of competitive stages make-up the event.
Team MRF’s strongest opposition is expected to come from the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X of Indonesia’s Subhan Aksa, and New Zealander youngster Mike Young in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
Calendar 20151. 17-19 APR New Zealand 2. 15-17 MAY New Caledonia 3. 19-21 JUN Australia 4. 14-16 AUG Malaysia 5. 18-20 SEP Japan 6. 30-01 Oct/Nov China 7. 11-13 DEC India Subject to FIA Approvaleom/MRF release
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MRF Jan Kopecky wins Rally of China; Gill crashes out: APRC
November 9, 2014: Team MRF completed their best season ever in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) by winning all six races in the 2014 Championship with Jan Kopecky coasting to the win in the China Rally Longyou. Kopecký driving an MRF Skoda Fabia S2000 convincingly won the China Rally reinforcing his and Skoda’s dominance of the series in 2014.
Kopecký’s task was made easier on Day 1 when team-mate Gaurav Gill who was leading the event at the time, hit a rock on Stage 5 that damaged the Skoda’s steering resulting in a heavy crash and retirement on Stage 6. Team MRF continued to prove that they are the team to beat after winning 3 titles in a row on MRF Tyres. MRF Tyres is the only Indian based tyre company to enjoy such success in international motorsport.
At the finish-line Kopecký said, “It’s been a great year and thanks a lot to the whole team it was a great opportunity in APRC and hopefully I can come back for some rallies in the future. I think the highlight is we won the championship, our team-mate Gaurav was very strong, he knows the conditions and we managed to beat him. I’m very happy we showed that Skoda is really strong, a really strong brand and we showed to everyone our car is really fantastic. The tyres have been great so a big thank you to Team MRF for making this possible.”
Cusco Subaru driver Yuya Sumiyama was second overall and in doing so, won the 2014 Asia Cup for a third time. “Asia Cup champion and overall 2nd position, very very happy and good result for the team. The conditions were very slippery and rough condition so we’re lucky”, said Sumiyama at final service.
It was another giant killing performance from New Zealander Mike Young bringing his Cusco Proton Satria home in 3rd place overall and securing the APRC Production Cup. Young was the only driver to finish all events in 2014 and doing so moved himself into second place in the drivers points “Its amazing for our team and Cusco, the boys worked so well, not even had a mechanical (problem) this year – we’re over the moon! Malcolm’s done an awesome job all year, kept me on my toes and in the grove so we’re really happy. Consistency has rewarded us with second in the championship in a 1.6 Proton, against all the four-wheel drive cars its just awesome”.
In only his third APRC event EZY Racing’s Dinesh Deheragoda from Sri Lanka found the conditions very difficult, but is looking forward to the next event in Thailand where he hopes to secure second in the Asia Cup, “Points for second in Asia Cup is more than I expected and my congratulations to Sumiyama who is already the Asia Cup champion mathematically. My target now is to see if I can finish second in the championship with some more points in Thailand.”
China Rally again proved to be a tough event to finish, especially with the wet conditions on Day 1. Australian Mark Peddar suffered the same fate as Gill hitting a rock on Stage 5 and retiring with damaged steering. Taiwan’s Huilan Shen didn’t make it past Stage 2 after she when off road in her Fiat Abarth 500.
There was no finish ceremony or celebrations at 2014 China Rally, after an accident on Stage 6 claimed the life of 20 year old Taiwanese driver Xie Chengxun.
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Jan Kopecky of Team MRF Tyres wins in China. Image courtesy APRC -
Team MRF looking to make it six wins out of six rallies: APRC final leg
Longyou (China) 7 Nov 2014: Team MRF will be hoping to complete the perfect season at this weekend’s China Rally Longyou, when they aim for their sixth win from six starts in the 2014 Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). With Czech driver, Jan Kopecky, clinching the 2014 APRC driver’s crown at the previous round, he and team-mate, Gaurav Gill (India), will be going head-to-head for victory in the Team MRF Skoda Fabia S2000s. Team MRF’s title win is their fifth, and their third in a row, and the team will be celebrating their success after the China Rally.
2013 APRC Champion and Indian
Rallying Ace Gaurav Gill is hoping to finish the season on a high and is cautious of the challenge that lies ahead this weekend. He said, “It is always very tough and difficult here in China because of different changes in the Stages. You know you can go from gravel to wet and rocky surfaces and then onto the really fast concrete roads. It can also be very unforgiving with long and winding roads. The season has not turned out as well as I had hoped but am still proud to be part of Team MRF and our unbelievable record this year. I will be going for the win here and am confident of fighting for the win.” Both drivers have been evenly matched this year, with Kopecky being a little more consistent on his first season in the APRC. His 2014 title comes after he won the 2013 European Rally Championship. Kopecky said, “It’s been a great experience competing together in all these different countries, and again China will be something new. Hopefully we can get a good result in China, because it would be the perfect way to finish this incredible season.”
Team MRF’s first win in this hat-trick of titles came in 2012, when Australian Chris Atkinson took the crown, with current driver, Gaurav Gill, tasting success last season. Team MRF Technical Head Lane Heenan, said, “The victories have been hard fought and are a real credit to all the Race Torque guys who prepare the cars. The APRC provides some of the most challenging conditions in world rallying, from the fantastic roads in New Zealand, right through to the slippery tracks and unpredictable weather in Malaysia.Throughout the past three seasons the Skoda Fabia S2000 has been the car to beat, and has really proved itself in these conditions.”
This weekend, Jan Kopecky and Pavel Dresler, and Gaurav Gill and Glenn Macneall, will face 13 closed road special stages over a mixture of gravel and concrete surfaces that will test them to the limit. In a total competitive distance of 231 kilometres, the event’s longest stage is the 25.64km Mu Chen test, which will be run as stage eight and 11.
The China Rally is based in the city of Longyou, 400 kilometres south-west of Shanghai and 200km from Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. Longyou has a long history. It’s 2236 years since its foundation, and on one side of the city, there are bamboo covered mountains, hills, plains and rivers; on the other side peaks, cliffs, caves, stones, pools and lakes.
Team MRF’s main opposition will come from Australian Mark Pedder in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, and Japan’s Yuyu Sumiyama.
eom/Adrenna Press Release
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Heartbreak for Gaurav Gill; Chances of retaining APRC crown bleak
Hokkaido (Japan), 27 Sept 2014: Indian rallying Ace and Team MRF Tyres driver Gaurav Gill put in a blistering performance at the Rally Hokkaido before an accident caused extensive damage to his car in the penultimate round of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Any chance of retaining the Asia Pacific Rally Championship that Gill won in 2013 now appears to be remote, although the Team MRF Tyres are working to get the car repaired in time to restart tomorrow. With Gill’s retirement, MRF Tyres driver and teammate Kopecky took over the lead of APRC Rally Hokkaido, 25 seconds ahead of Japan’s Toshi Arai.
After seven stages and 70 kilometers of flat out competition, MRF Skoda driver Gaurav Gill from India led the 2014 APRC Rally of Hokkaido. Through the first morning of competition Gill has built a steady lead on MRF team-mate Jan Kopecky, arriving at the first break confident he had the right strategy. Unfortunately for Gill on stage 8 Yam Wakka, a high speed crash ended his rally. Gill commented “I was a little surprised this morning that Jan was faster than me on the first stage, but after that I dug in and put in some good (stages) times to take the lead. We’re not pushing, looking after the car is really important here. It’s a shame what happened as the car felt really good this weekend.”
Kopecky, who started the Rally with an 8 point lead is looking to finish the race tomorrow after seeing his main competitor go out. “It’s unfortunate what happened to Gaurav, we were having a good battle but these roads are very unforgiving. Our plan today was to keep the same safe pace especially through the long stages. Tomorrow the stages are very tricky, very difficult and are different from today, so hopefully we can keep our position and bring the car back to the finish. We must finish tomorrow as this will win for the MRF team, the APRC Manufacturer’s award”.
eom/Adrenna Communications
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Gaurav Gill overcomes suspension problem, thanks to Team MRF: APRC
Johor Bahru, 17 Aug 2014: Gaurav Gill, the Team MRF speed maestro and defending Asia Pacific Rally Champion (APRC) overcame a problem with his mechanical problem to win the Malaysian Rally in convincing fashion. After crashing out in Australia this was a strong performance by Gill, finishing over thirteen minutes ahead of Australia’s Mark Pedder, to put himself within ten points’ rea
Gauvrav Gill seen with his wife Dr Shilpa (checks shirt on the right side) as he poses with MRF Skoda Team after winning the APRC Malaysian leg. An Adrenna image ch of overall championship leader and teammate Jan Kopecky.
With Czech teammate Jan Kopecky out of the classification with a suspension break on day one, the onus was on Gill to finish and make sure at least one Team MRF car was on top. Gill got off to a wonderful start, winning the day’s first stage, Tai Tak Court House, by more than ten seconds. But trouble with his suspension in the next stage meant that he had to ease off.
Gill was thrilled to win the Rally of Malaysia after being unsure of finishing the Rally. He said, “The rear suspension stopped working because of the heat. We took it easy and the priority was to make sure one of the cars finished on top. In the second stage (of the day) we started having the problem. By the third it completely collapsed. Malaysia is all about finishing the rally. It’s the most difficult rally of the season. One of the toughest in the world I would say and the team has done a great job so big thank you to Team MRF for the win today.”
Yesterday Gill’s team-mate Jan Kopecky (co-driver Pavel Dresler) suffered a broken rear suspension as he seemed set to win his third consecutive rally when his Skoda S2000 landed too hard on a jump in Special Stage six (Tai Tak Fish Pond). Until then, Kopecky had won three of the five stages and built up a lead of 1:14.8s.
The racing crew will now move to the penultimate rally in Japan (September 26-28). For Kopecky it will be his first rally in Japan. He said, “There is still no pressure, It’s just good for the team at least one car has won the rally. Japan will be interesting. Hopefully we can find the same pace as we did in this rally.”
Gill was adamant that startegy will play a big role for the next race. He commented, “The strategy is going to be absolutely flat out from the word go in Japan,” said Gill. “That’s going to be sort of a decider for us. Either make it or break it.”
Final Standings:
1. Gaurav Gill (Ind) 3:01:23.2s;
2. Mark Pedder (Aus) 3:14:25.7s;
3. Xu Jun (Chn) 3:14:47.4s;
4. Sanjay Takle (Ind) 3:28:44.8s;
5. Michael Young (Nzl) 3:35:21.0s.
eom/Adrenna Communications Release
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Gaurav Gill raring to mount challenge on MRF teammate: APRC in Malaysia
Gaurav Gill of MRF in action. File photo courtesy FIAAPRC.com The Malaysian Rally is perhaps the toughest event in the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. And Indian driver, Gaurav Gill, (in the MRF car) will be hoping that a new car will be just what he needs to get his Asia-Pacific Championship campaign back on track in Malaysia this weekend.
The Team MRF driver crashed out of June’s Rally of Queensland, and now trails his team-mate, Jan Kopecky, by 39 points in the battle for the title. However, his experience of the Malaysian Rally could prove decisive as the event’s slippery stages and tropical climate make this one of the toughest rallies in the world.
While Gill and co-driver, Glenn Macneall, will drive a brand new Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia S2000, team-mates Kopecky and Dresler (mug shots in red) will have a new engine fitted to their car, which could see them take a first-up Malaysian victory.
“This event is usually tricky on technical roads that are very slippery when wet,” Team MRF boss, Lane Heenan said.
“The temperature and humidity makes this one of the toughest rallies anywhere in the world and is a real test of the crews’ stamina.“Jan has been going to the sauna and wearing his overalls for the last few weeks to help get used to the conditions here, and both drivers and co-drivers will wear cool suits with ice water circulation to prevent fatigue.”
Team MRF will be hoping to get both cars to the finish and to consolidate their already considerable championship lead.
While they’re hoping for a dry event, rain in Malaysia can often be very localised, making tyre choice more difficult than at any other event in the championship. Temperatures during the day are expected to be around 30 degrees, with high humidity.
After a promotional start at a local shopping centre on Friday evening, the Malaysian Rally continues on Saturday and Sunday with 14 stages covering a total competitive distance of 217 kilometres.
The longest stage of the rally is the 26.32km Tai Tak stage, held twice on the first day.
After Jan Kopecky won the Pacific Cup covering the first three rounds of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, Team MRF have entered Gill in the Asian Cup, of which this event is the first round.
Other leading entries include Australians Mark Pedder (Lancer Evo X) and Tom Wilde (Renault Clio), Kiwi Michael Young (Proton Satria), and China’s Jun Xu in a Skoda Fabia.
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Gaurav Gill all set for Queensland challenge: APRC
MRF car in action. Image courtesy FIAAPRC.com The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship is in Australia this weekend for the International Rally of Queensland, where Team MRF drivers Gaurav Gill and Jan Kopecky resume their battle for supremacy.
With one win apiece from the first two rounds, in New Zealand and New Caledonia, Gill and Kopecky come into round three of the championship equal on points, with both needing a win to move into a clear lead. Driving their Team MRF Skoda Fabia Super 2000s, their championship battle has, not surprisingly, been close. Both drivers are the class of the APRC field, with Gill the reigning title holder, and Kopecky last year’s FIA European Rally Champion.
“They’re both extremely talented and competitive drivers,” Team MRF boss, Lane Heenan, said this week.
“While Gaurav has done the Rally of Queensland several times before, this will be Jan’s first time, however he has shown that he has the experience to win events first time out. So we’re expecting another really close battle this weekend.
“We’ve never implied team orders in the past, and we won’t be starting that this weekend. Both drivers will be itching to gain an advantage and will be going for the win. It should be exciting to watch!”
Despite being held on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, based out of Caloundra, the weather is looking like being wet for the rally, which will make conditions even more tricky than normal.
Drivers have regularly stated that the forest roads around Imbil have very little grip, and if the forecast rain arrives, then conditions could be treacherous.
It was conditions similar to that which saw Gill’s car needing repair after an off-road excursion in New Caledonia that saw him drop from first to second place by the end of the event.
Since that rally, Gill has been busy, and last weekend won the Rally of Maharashtra, the first round of the Indian Rally Championship.
Both Gill and Kopecky will have a short test session on Wednesday morning, before the rally begins on Saturday.
The International Rally of Queensland will again be based in the Mary Valley, with the service park and event HQ located in Imbil, around two hours north of Brisbane. It is the sixth time the event has been a round of the APRC.
A revised itinerary has dramatically reduced the amount of liaison distance this year, with the majority of the stages being used twice, and two stages being run three times.
The rally is run over a total of 16 stages, over a mixture of fast flowing and sometimes twisty forestry roads. The longest stage of the rally is 35.72km in length.
After a ceremonial start in Caloundra on Friday night, the rally runs on Saturday and Sunday. The event is also round three of the Australian Rally Championship.
eom/FIAAPRC release
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Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif win INRC Round 1 in a Mahindra SUV
By Sanjay Rajan
Nashik, 15 June 2014: “Gaurav Gill drove as if he was Skiing in wet tarmac and won#rallyofmaharashtra by 1min 48 seconds,” India’s top rally driver posted on his Facebook page after winning the opening round of the FMSCI-Indian Rally Championship in Nashik on Sunday.
Gill and his co-driver Musa Sherif in a Mahindra XUV timed 1 hour, 28 minutes and 30 seconds to clinch the overall honours ahead of Mahindra Adventure teammates and reigning National champions Amittrajit Ghosh and co-driver Ashwin Naik.
“A great start to the Indian Rally C’ship 2014 completing a hat-trick of Nashik Rally wins 2011,13,14,” Gill further posted on social media.
Gill, the 2013 Asia Pacific Rally champion, was the fastest in all the stages on Saturday and was yet behind Ghosh going into Sunday’s final day action after being docked penalty owing to delay at the service park.
“The Mahindra team had prepared the XUV very different from the previous year. So I wasn’t very conversant with the vehicle prior to the event. Also the stages were difficult than last year,” Gill said.
Gill, the 2011 National champion, made up for lost time in SS 8 on Sunday morning and appeared to cruise thereafter.
Byram Godrej and Somayya AG won in the IRC 2000 category, Hrishikesh Thackersey and Ninad Mirajgaonkar topped in the IRC 1600 category and Anirudha Ranganekar and Arjun Mehta won in the FMSCI 1600 Cup class.
The second round of the six-round championship will be held in Coimbatore from July 11 to 13.
The final classification: IRC Overall category: 1. Gaurav Gill/Musa Sherif (1:28:30), 2. Amittrajit Ghosh/Ashwin Naik (1: 30:18), 3. Byram Godrej/Somayya AG (1:32:11). IRC 2000: 1. Byram Godrej/Somayya AG, 2. Rahul Kantharaj/Vivek Bhat, 3. Sumit Panjabi/Venu Ramesh Kumar. IRC 1600: 1. Hrishikesh Thackersey/Ninad Mirajgaonkar, 2. Sirish Chandran/Nikhil Pai, 3. Druva Chandrashekhar/B. Roopesh. FMSCI 1600 Cup: 1. Anirudha Ranganekar/Arjun Mehta, 2. Adith KC/Harish KN, 3. Parag Dhhiwar/Aditya Dhhiwar.
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Gill (left) and Musa Sherif take the first victory as INRC began with the Nashik round. Photo by WISA/Pandit
“The temperature and humidity makes this one of the toughest rallies anywhere in the world and is a real test of the crews’ stamina.
