<p>Gaurav Gill of Team MRF is poised for an unprecedented clean sweep of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship as he surged to a commanding and unassailable lead at the end of Leg-1 in the Coffee Day India Rally on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall), who took rally driving to a level not seen before in India, ended the day with a handsome lead of seven minutes, 33.6 seconds over second-placed Mike Young (Malcolm Read) of Cusco Racing after team-mate Fabian Kreim (Frank Christian) crashed out early in the day.<br /><br />Should 35-year old Gill, who has already sealed the 2016 APRC driver’s title his second since 2013, win on Monday when the Coffee Day Rally concludes, he will be the only competitor to achieve the rare feat of winning all the rounds of a FIA Rally championship en route to annexing the crown.<br /><br /> In sharp contrast to Gill’s absolute dominance, only seven seconds separated Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) of Mahindra Adventure and Team Yokohama 2K’s Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) in the battle for the INRC overall honours in the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship that was run over six Special Stages. Kadur also led the INRC 2000 class where he was ahead of Dr Bikku Babu (Milen George) by over three minutes.<br /><br /> The day clearly belonged to Gill who drove the MRF Skoda Fabia R5 with aplomb, negotiating the tight and twisty estate roads with rare mastery, especially in the unforgiving corners that flowed one into another.<br /><br /> “We had no problems with our car as such. The speeds were quite slow due to the nature of the route, but still it was quite challenging,” said Gill<br /><br />Placed third in the APRC was Pune-based Sanjay Takale (Nokiro Takeshita) of Cusco Racing while team-mate Yuya Sumiyama (Takahiro Yasui) retired with a mechanical problem.<br /><br />DH News Service<br />Results (provisional, after Leg-1): APRC: Gaurav Gill/ Glenn Macneall (Team MRF) 02::42:32.8, 1; Mike Young/ Malcolm Read (Cusco Racing) 02:50:06.4, 2; Sanjay Takale/ Noriko Takeshita (Cusco Racing) 03:00:06.5, 3.<br /><br />INRC Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) 01:19:34.6, 1; Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Team Yokohama 2K) 01:19:42.2, 2; Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George 01:21:17.1, 3.<br /><br />INRC 2000: Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Team Yokohama 2K) 01:19:42.2, 1; Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George 01:21:17.1, 2; Philippos Mathaii/ Harish KN 01:30:37.0, 3.<br /><br />FMSCI Cup: Minchu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar 01:26:34.4, 1; Jacob KJ/ Manoj Mohanan 01:26:57.9, 2; Veeresh Prasad/ Shahid Salman 01:28:44.2, 3.<br /><br />IRC: Sanjay Takale/ Noriko Takeshita (Cusco Racing) 01:12:08.1, 1; Amol Satoskar/ Dr Dinesh 01:28:01.4, 2; Shafraz Junaid/ Akhry Ameer 01:28:28.6, 3.<br /><br />Gypsy Star (non-championship): Sanjay Agarwal/Smitha N 01:32:46.0, 1; Avin Nanjappa/ Suraj Shetti 01:36:26.8, 2; Dheeraj KV/ Ravi 01:46:39.5, 3.</p>
<p>Gaurav Gill of Team MRF is poised for an unprecedented clean sweep of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship as he surged to a commanding and unassailable lead at the end of Leg-1 in the Coffee Day India Rally on Sunday.<br /><br /></p>.<p> Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall), who took rally driving to a level not seen before in India, ended the day with a handsome lead of seven minutes, 33.6 seconds over second-placed Mike Young (Malcolm Read) of Cusco Racing after team-mate Fabian Kreim (Frank Christian) crashed out early in the day.<br /><br />Should 35-year old Gill, who has already sealed the 2016 APRC driver’s title his second since 2013, win on Monday when the Coffee Day Rally concludes, he will be the only competitor to achieve the rare feat of winning all the rounds of a FIA Rally championship en route to annexing the crown.<br /><br /> In sharp contrast to Gill’s absolute dominance, only seven seconds separated Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik) of Mahindra Adventure and Team Yokohama 2K’s Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) in the battle for the INRC overall honours in the FMSCI Indian Rally Championship that was run over six Special Stages. Kadur also led the INRC 2000 class where he was ahead of Dr Bikku Babu (Milen George) by over three minutes.<br /><br /> The day clearly belonged to Gill who drove the MRF Skoda Fabia R5 with aplomb, negotiating the tight and twisty estate roads with rare mastery, especially in the unforgiving corners that flowed one into another.<br /><br /> “We had no problems with our car as such. The speeds were quite slow due to the nature of the route, but still it was quite challenging,” said Gill<br /><br />Placed third in the APRC was Pune-based Sanjay Takale (Nokiro Takeshita) of Cusco Racing while team-mate Yuya Sumiyama (Takahiro Yasui) retired with a mechanical problem.<br /><br />DH News Service<br />Results (provisional, after Leg-1): APRC: Gaurav Gill/ Glenn Macneall (Team MRF) 02::42:32.8, 1; Mike Young/ Malcolm Read (Cusco Racing) 02:50:06.4, 2; Sanjay Takale/ Noriko Takeshita (Cusco Racing) 03:00:06.5, 3.<br /><br />INRC Overall: Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) 01:19:34.6, 1; Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Team Yokohama 2K) 01:19:42.2, 2; Dr Bikku Babu/ Milen George 01:21:17.1, 3.<br /><br />INRC 2000: Karna Kadur/ Nikhil Pai (Team Yokohama 2K) 01:19:42.2, 1; Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George 01:21:17.1, 2; Philippos Mathaii/ Harish KN 01:30:37.0, 3.<br /><br />FMSCI Cup: Minchu Ganapathy/ Venu Ramesh Kumar 01:26:34.4, 1; Jacob KJ/ Manoj Mohanan 01:26:57.9, 2; Veeresh Prasad/ Shahid Salman 01:28:44.2, 3.<br /><br />IRC: Sanjay Takale/ Noriko Takeshita (Cusco Racing) 01:12:08.1, 1; Amol Satoskar/ Dr Dinesh 01:28:01.4, 2; Shafraz Junaid/ Akhry Ameer 01:28:28.6, 3.<br /><br />Gypsy Star (non-championship): Sanjay Agarwal/Smitha N 01:32:46.0, 1; Avin Nanjappa/ Suraj Shetti 01:36:26.8, 2; Dheeraj KV/ Ravi 01:46:39.5, 3.</p>
