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