Gaurav Gill takes lead in Rally of Queensland

Gaurav Gill in the MRF during the race

Caloundra, Australia, June 18: India’s, Gaurav Gill (co-driver Glen Macneal) waged a grim battle against his team-mate Pontus Tidemand (co-drive Emil Axelsson), on the slippery roads winding through the forests of Sunshine Coast in the International Rally of Queensland, the third round of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

Clear skies greeted the drivers on Saturday morning, but the heavy rains in the days preceding the rally rendered large parts of the tracks slushy and slippery, especially in the heavily shaded parts of the forests.

Gill, hoping to break the jinx of the past three years, went on attack mode right from the start taking three stage wins on the opening loop of five stages. Tidemand took wins in two stages to keep the Indian very much in sight. But it was an eventful first half for both the Team MRF Skoda drivers.

Tidemand suffered an early puncture, while Gill had a close shave when he spun on the fifth stage. “It was very tricky out there in the morning. The roads were very slippery and there was hardly any grip. I spun on the fifth stage, fortunately it didn’t cost us much,” said Gill.

There was not much to separate the two team-mates in the second loop. Gill clocked the best times on the sixth and seventh, but the Swede seized the initiative back with wins on the next three stages. At the close of leg 1, Gill managed to open up slender lead of 4.6 seconds after 110km of hard rallying. “In these conditions it was very easy to make mistakes. I made two mistakes, and I am not very happy about them.

But there are going to be new challenges tomorrow. Pontus is driving very well. So, I need to be on the top of my game,” said Gill at the end of the day.

Tidemand managed to cut the seven second lead to under five seconds in the second run of stages. “Gill was fast, but we tried to push as much as possible. It was a good day, though I am not very happy about the morning stages. The afternoon session was much better,” said Tidemand.

The slippery conditions meant the drivers had to work very hard to keep the cars on the road. “We will change the setup of the car as there is absolutely no traction at the back of the car. We’ll put some more lock and some more grip in there [the differential]. I’m just keeping it on the road and smooth and bringing the car back.

Pontus is slowly chipping time away from us but I know our speed and I know his speed,” the overnight leader.