Dayinsure Wales Rally GB: Gill opens with tied 16th; Lappi tops timesheets after SS-1

INDIAinF1 Desk October 5, 2018

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Gaurav Gill....Solid and steady. File photo: MRF

*Gaurav Gill – file photo courtesy MRF Racing*

Tir Prince (Wales), 5 October 2018: India’s Gaurav Gill of Team MRF Tyres, driving a M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5, finished a creditable tied 16th, just 4.5 seconds off the pace after completing last night’s 1.70 Kms Special Stage as the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB, a round of the FIA World Rally Championship got off to a spectacular start.

The action switches into the north Wales forests on Friday. Three early morning tests are repeated in the afternoon following mid-leg service in Deeside, with two short fan-friendly tests at Slate Mountain completing the pre-lunch loop. The eight stages cover 110.76km.

Gill, partnered by his long-time Australian co-driver Glenn Macneall, clocked one minute, 28.3 seconds, the same as British pairing of Rhys Yates-Elliot Edmondson in a Skoda Fabia R5 while Skoda factory driver Kalle Rovanpera (Jonne Haltunnen) was the quickest in the RC2 group with 01:23.8.

Meanwhile, Esapekka Lappi (01:21.6) headed a Toyota Gazoo Racing 1-2 in the WRC category after edging team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala (01:21.9). Lappi completed the dusty 1.70km stage at the Tir Prince trotting track 0.3sec quicker than fellow Finn Latvala. Both were at the wheel of Yaris World Rally Cars.

Championship leader Thierry Neuville matched Latvala’s time in his Hyundai i20 to tie for second, ahead of title rivals Sébastien Ogier (01:22.3) and Ott Tänak (01:22.5). Ogier finished 0.4sec behind the Belgian in a Ford Fiesta, with Estonian Tänak a further 0.2sec adrift in his Yaris.

Tänak recovered from a frustrating start to the day when he crashed in his first pass at this morning’s shakedown test in Clocaenog. After missing the braking point on slippery gravel roads, he slid straight on into a bank and returned to the Deeside service park where his team replaced the cooling package.

Thursday evening’s curtain-raiser was a short floodlit blast at Tir Prince trotting track and included a slalom section, donuts and two eye-catching jumps. After a high-speed lap around long and flowing bends of the oval horse racing track, the stage ended with a twisty section on adjoining roads.