It
was an exciting and great comeback for reigning APRC Champion and Team MRF
Skoda driver Gaurav Gill of India as he went on to beat overnight leader and
team-mate Jan Kopecký to win the VINZ International Rally of Whangarei in New
Zealand.
The
opening round of the 2014 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) saw Gill
and co-driver Glenn Macneall overcome a 23 second deficit to win comfortably in
their MRF Tyres ŠKODA Fabia S2000 car on April 13, 2104, according to a company
statement.
Gaurav
Gill and Australia based co-driver Glenn Macneall won the six special stages
concluding the 2014 VINZ International Rally of Whangarei . Their win ensured
that the overnight leader and team mate Jan Kopecký had to be content with
being second.
The
opening round of the 2014 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) saw
competitors head south for six remaining special stages – to roads more
familiar to Gill. Starting behind Kopecký for the day of double run stages,
Gill was in a closely fought battle for stage honours, until the 32-year-old
found advantage on the 27.43km Springfield test. Pulling out a time 25 seconds
faster than his rival was all Gill needed to put his MRF Tyres team mate behind
him for the run to the finish. Defending the gain second time round, Gill added
a further 1.1 seconds to win by a competitive 11.9 seconds after 220.87km of
competition.
Gaurav Gill was ecstatic to win his first ever
rally in Whangarei after missing out in the last couple of years. He commented,
“We’ve come close to winning here before but every year we’ve had some issue
either technical or mechanical. This time it was the best way to win – to come
from the back, especially being down by 23 seconds – it was a massive amount of
time to make up in this situation. The most important thing is it was a level
playing field for Kopecký and I. He is the European champion and I’m the
defending champion so he is good benchmark for me. Plus we had new stages this
rally and I had to push really hard – that’s what makes the win so much more
exciting for me and the team.”
In
the MRF Tyres ŠKODA Fabia S2000 car Czech Republic based Kopecký and co-driver
Pavel Dresler took consolation in his placing. The first time the 32-year-old
has been in New Zealand, it was also his first time in the car and using the
Indian manufactured tyres.
Jan
Kopecky was happy to finish in second in his first race for the team. He said,
“We had a really good fight all weekend so thanks a lot to Gaurav for that
because you need to be pushed by an opponent to be able to improve. I don’t
have so much experience at these gravel rallies and it being the first time for
me to compete so far away from home so we are happy with the result,”.
The
international teams will now be heading with their cars and equipment to the
series second round. Held in five weeks’ time at the Pacific island location of
New Caledonia it uses 15 special stages situated between capital city Noumea
and the international airport location of Tontoua. La Tontouta International
Airport or Nouméa - La Tontouta International is the main international airport
on New Caledonia. New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in
the southwest Pacific Ocean, 1,210 kilometres (750 mi) east of Australia.
Results:
1. Gaurav Gill/Glenn Macneall - 2:11:39.7
2. Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler - 2:11:51.7
3. Mark Pedder/Claire Dowling - 2:20:02.3
Photo courtesy Macspeedfoto/Alan Mcdonald
Source: MRF & Adrenna Communications