HOME WIN FOR GILL AND INDIA RALLY WRAPPED UP

Gaurav Gill from India, has won all five FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship rallies this year and really wanted a home win in front of his huge number of passionate fans on the sixth and final round of the 2016 series, the Coffee Day India Rally.

While his team-mate Fabian Kreim from Germany took the initial lead on Friday’s super-special, when the rally moved onto the twisty narrow roads of the nearby coffee estates Gill stamped his authority on the event quickly, moving into a commanding lead that he held to the finish. “It was an extremely difficult and technical rally because of the narrow, twisting route with hundreds of corners” said Gill who celebrated the rare feat with his young family. New Zealander Mike Young was struggling with a down on power engine and over-heating brakes he was in the right spot to take over second place in the Cusco EZY Racing Subaru. “Given all the challenges we had with the brakes, the engine and with the power steering I’m really happy just to finish, let alone finish second. It’s very very tough here as the roads are so tight and twisty – its tough on the car and the driver”, said a relieved Young at the finish.Coming home in third place on the podium was dream come true for Indian driver Sanjay Takale. Team-mate to Young and also driving a Cusco EZY Racing Subaru the driver was equally surprised how tough the event was.

India Rally wrapped up the 2016 Asia Pacific Rally Championship and the finish celebrations saw the presentation of the Würth Cups to the top three drivers in the series Gill, Kreim and Young.