Gaurav Gill sets the pace to take lead in RC2 class: Kennards Hire Rally Australia
Coffs Harbour, 16 November 2018: Winning six of the day’s eight Special Stages, India’s Gaurav Gill and his Australia co-driver Glenn Macneall of MRF Tyres took a healthy lead of 33.6 seconds to top the RC2 (WRC2) class in the Kennards Hire Rally Australia, the concluding round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, here on Friday.
Building on the hot pace he had shown in Thursday’s shakedown which he topped in the RC2 class, Gill enjoyed a fruitful outing today as he gradually shifted gears to end the day on a high to be placed 11th Overall, just behind the WRC cars!
Gill, driving the M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R5, finished the day with a combined time of 58mins, 32.7secs, while Alberto Heller from Chile and his Argentine co-driver Jose Dias, also in a Ford Fiesta R5, were second with 59:06.3 as the cars headed into the final service of the day.
The Rally continues on Saturday, the longest day of the three-day event, when 10 more Special Stages over 133 Kms will be run.
During Thursday’s Shakedown, Gill was the fastest in 03:08.0 which he clocked on his third attempt, improving five seconds overall during the session. “We had a couple of good runs in the car and the MRF Tyres worked well on this short stage.” Gill said. “Tomorrow looks like it will be dry so the work here today will be very important. The stages tomorrow will be tough and this is my first visit to the Coffs Harbour stages.”
Following the morning’s shakedown, thousands of people packed into the centre of Coffs Harbour for the ceremonial start and autograph sessions.
While Gill has never rallied in the Coffs Harbour region before, his success in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship, combined with Macneall being on home ground meant that the MRF Tyres Ford Fiesta R5 was popular with the fans.
“It was great to see so many people out here for the start of Rally Australia,” Gill said. “I have had a lot of success in previous rallies I have done in Australia and I am looking forward to rallying in front of the Australian fans again.”
