INRC 2019, Round Three: All eyes on Gaurav Gill

Gill, fresh from his participation at the World Rally Championship, is back to deliver his best at the Maxperience Rally that begins on Saturday.

Gaurav Gill during his warm-up in Jodhpur on Friday. Photo: Special Arrangement

After having mastered most of the stages at the WRC in Marmaris, Turkey, last week, India’s Gaurav Gill is back to deliver his best at the Maxperience Rally that begins here on Saturday.

The Rally is the third round of the Champions Yacht Club FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship for cars.

Quite a few expect a face-off between Gill (Team Mahindra Adventure) and Team Champions’ Dean Mascarenhas (Shruptha Padival) in the next two days. However, that isn’t the case as Gill is a champion driver and has proved that to a great measure for many years now.

‘No face-off’

“There’s not going to be any sort of face-off. Gill is a World Rally driver and I am miles away [from reaching] there. But, I am sure that I can get there on time, hopefully, with his guidance and experience,” Dean told Sportstar here on Friday.

“He has been helping me and am also looking at learning the way he goes about in his Academy. From there, I should be able to do something better,” he added.

Dean currently leads the INRC2 class and is second overall. “But there are four more rallies to go from here and there’s lot more that can add or change,” he said.

Adjusting required

The rally, powered by MRF , is expected to bring the best out of the participants as it boasts of some super-fast sweeping roads. And Gill, hungry to do well, may well begin his title hunt from this city. “I am fresh of my WRC round but this is a completely different car that requires different inputs of driving and using the package that we have — the gearbox, the differentials and the engine. I need to detune myself to a different style of driving. These engines are not as fast as those cars and I need to quickly get used to these speeds,” said Gill.

“We have not had the best rounds so far but this round we have a completely new package, with the engine, the tune and the tyres, so I am hoping to finish on top,” he added.

Race Concepts Younus Ilyas (Harish Gowda) of Kochi is the dark horse; he will be eager to give the two a run for their money.

The Rally of Jodhpur, run on gravel, will cover about 300kms which includes 125kms of Special Stages.