Official: Gaurav Gill and Team MRF will compete in 2018 WRC Rally Sardinia
Gaurav Gill is all set to make his WRC debut at the 2018 WRC Rally Sardegna. He will be driving for Team MRF and his co-driver for the season is Glenn Macneall. The Rally will be held from June 7 to June 10, 2018.
An official statement by Team MRF stated that although Rally Sardegna is the seventh round of the 2018 Championship, it will help the team gain valuable experience and prepare for the 2019 WRC season. The team will be competing in the RC2 category
Team MRF will run the Ford Fiesta R5, developed by M-Sport, winner of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship.
Speaking on this momentous occasion, Arun Mammen, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, MRF Limited said "This is a huge step for MRF. We have been actively involved in promoting racing in India over the last 30 years and it gives us immense satisfaction to have a champion Indian racer in Gaurav Gill to spearhead our campaign in the World Rally Championship. Motorsports is a platform where we can demonstrate our tyre technology and apart from that, it will also help us in developing new cutting-edge technology through extensive R&D and analysis of data collected from the track. I look forward to our season ahead and to our partnership with M-Sport."
Gaurav Gill, a multiple Asia Pacific Rally Champion is raring to go up against some of the best rally drivers in the world. Gill, in the official press statement, said that it's a huge honour to represent Team MRF in the World Rally Championship. He says that he has been training quite hard to get up to pace with the experienced set of drivers from the first rally itself.
The official release states that Gill will compete as a non-priority driver for four rounds (Sardegna, Finland, Wales and Australia), all of which are gravel rallies, a surface that Gill excels on.
In addition, there's a special two-day test that will be held in Europe at the end of May, to help Gill and the team familiarize with the terrain, tyres and cars.
M-Sport's managing director, Malcolm Wilson said, "It is great to welcome Gaurav Gill and MRF tyres to not only the WRC but also M-Sport. We as a company are well aware of their achievements in the APRC for the past 16 years and it is great to see them take their first step into the World Rally Championship with M-Sport and the Ford Fiesta R5. It will be a tough learning curve, competing on four very different rallies but M-Sport will do all they can to help them with the transition this year. We hope this will be the start of a long and exciting partnership and wish them all the best of luck"
Also, read:
All the world's a stage for Gaurav Gill who heads to WRC2 in 2018
WRC: Gaurav Gill will pilot a Ford Fiesta R5 in the 2018 season
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