APRC 2016: Gaurav Gill leads Rally Hokkaido
Gaurav Gill on the stages of Rally Hokkaido, Round 4 of the 2016 Asia Pacific Rally Championship
Team MRF Skoda's Gaurav Gill had a terrific first day of rallying at Leg 1 of Rally Hokkaido. Gill, in his Fabia R5, managed to get a lead of 1min 24.9sec in Japan, at the fourth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship. The nearest rivals that Gill and new co-driver Stephane Prevot had, were their team-mates Fabian Kreim and co-driver Christian Frank.
"It's been a good day. I had good rhythm and speed. It was smooth sailing with Stephane and that was something I was nervous about prior to the rally, but we have a really good setup. Although we made a few changes to the car, it's working very well and I wish to continue like this tomorrow," said Gill who has won three other rallies this year, at New Zealand, Australia and China.
Things weren't smooth sailing for Kreim though, who had a tough day, with a puncture on the fourth stage of the rally.
"So far, it's not bad for the first time here. It was not so easy, there are very deep ruts and a lot of deep gravel, but so far we are satisfied. The car setup is getting better and better and we will keep trying tomorrow. I think some more changing on setup tonight and then we will see," is what Kreim said of his day.
Third at the end of the first day's running was Mike Young.
