Gill's vehicle breaks down, hopes to finish strong on Sunday
The brand-new Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, which Gill was driving, came to a stop about 300 meters into SS3 when a throttle body failed. "We were fastest on SS1, and there was good rhythm and precision for me in stage 2 as well, which worked well. We made some changes to the tyres and suspension. After stage 2, we had almost 38 or 39 seconds lead, quite a big lead. Unfortunately, at the SS3 start, the mechanical failure happened, just 300 metres into the round,' a disappointed Gill said, sitting next to his teammates.
The rare mechanical failure dampened the mood a little in the Gill camp, but the Arjuna Award winner is confident of making a comeback and scoring some crucial leg points. "We can have some penalties added to the time format that runs, and we are eligible to continue all day tomorrow. If we can put in some really good time, we can actually be top-3. So I won't be surprised if we end up in a good position,' said Gill.
Former rally champion and Head of Operations, JK Motorsports, Hari Singh echoed the sentiment. "Obviously, a big setback for us after putting in so much effort and the cars arriving at the very last minute. It is disappointing when we have a winning car and a winning driver. The combination was perfect, but that's rallying. You win some, you lose some," said Hari Singh, who is JK Racing's team manager at this event.
Meanwhile, Nikeetaa Takkale, India's only female driver at the event, had a good day on the track. Competing in Indonesia for the first time, the Pune-based driver delivered a faultless performance and is on course for a rare triple podium in the third round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship's (APRC) Asia Cup, held about 32 kilometres from Parapat. She is leading her class, the RC4 and the Ladies class. She is also likely to bag a podium in the Junior APRC.
In RC3, Goa's Vaibhav Marathe, co-driven by experienced Ashwin Naik of Mangaluru, topped his class in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 Evo, finishing seventh overall. Bopaiah KM was the best Indian finisher and sixth overall.
Provisional results (Saturday Leg 1): APRC Overall and RC2 Class: 1. Ryan Nirwan/ Adi Indiarto (01 hour, 01min, 43.7seconds); 2. Musa Arjanshah/ Mohamad Herkusuma (01:02:05.8); 3. Aldio Oeken/ Respati Adhi (01:02:18.5); RC2 Class Indians: 6. Bopaiah KM/ PV Srinivasa Murthy (Kodagu/Bengaluru) (01:09:27.9); 8. Abhin R Rai/ Srikanth Gowda (Kodagu/Chikkamagaluru) (01:14.55.4); 10. Gaurav Gill/ Florian Barral (Delhi/France) (1:25:27.8) (DNF in SS3) (Penalty awaited). APRC RC3: 1. Vaibhav Marathe/ Ashwin Naik (Goa/Mangaluru) (01:14:15.6); APRC RC4: 1. Nikeeta Takkale/ Sudhindra Gopalakrishna (Pune/Bengaluru) (01:21:20.3); Ladies Class: 1. Nikeetaa/Sudhindra.
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