Gaurav Gill Seals 2016 Asia Pacific Rally Championship

Gaurav Gill, of Team MRF, created history in Indian motorsport by clinching the 2016 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) title that was held in Malaysia on October 30, 2016, with a round to spare. The Indian rally driver marked his fifth consecutive win of the season and secured the APRC drivers' championship. This was Gill’s second APRC win following his success back in 2013.

Gaurav Gill commanded the fifth round of the FIA APRC at the Malaysian Rally in his Skoda Fabia R5 with his Australian co-driver Glenn Macneall. Both the teammates strengthened their lead from the previous stage, maintaining a comfortable breathing space during the remaining stages. Gill took no chances and comfortably won the event, much before (31 minutes, 35.7 seconds) Sanjay Takale. While Kreim, who rejoined for Leg-2, finished third, Michael Young who was placed second overnight, crashed out.

“Just five minutes before I left the Service Park for the Special Stages today, I asked the team to slap on full wet tyres instead of the half-cut rubber the car was fitted with. It was a gut feeling and it proved to the correct choice as the conditions were pretty tough because of overnight rains. I knew that Fabian was pushing hard, but I drove pretty conservatively since I had huge overnight lead,” Gill said.

Having won the previous four rounds of the APRC this season, the Delhi-based rally driver, Gill, went into the Malaysian Rally with an advantage of 42-point over his team-mate Fabian Kreim who retired from the race due to some gearbox issues, which apparently ended the championship battle between the two. The last round of the APRC will be held in Chikmagalur, Karnataka in India where Gill will be officially coronated as the 2016 APRC champion.