Indian racer Gaurav Gill of team MRF is poised for a clean sweep of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship as he surged to an unassailable lead at the end of the first leg of the Coffee Day India Rally here on Sunday.
Gill (co-driver Glenn MacNeall) ended the day with a handsome lead of seven minutes, 33.6 seconds over second-placed Michael Young (co-driver Malcolm Read) of Cusco Racing after team-mate Fabian Kreim (Frank Christian) crashed out early in the day.
Commenting on the day, Gill said in a release: "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."
"Though we have a good lead, the car is built for speed and I have to be in my rhythm. So, there is nothing like easing off. Maybe, I can drive 97 per cent instead of 100," he added.
While Young was struggling with loss of power in his Subaru Impreza WRX STi car, Fabian Kreim met with a misfortune early in the day when he crashed his R5 car into a stone on a left-hander.
"We came over a crest and into a left-hander. I think I was carrying too much speed into the corner and crashed into the stone. Unfortunate, but that is the nature of motorsport. I will be driving tomorrow and hope to score some leg points," said Kreim, who won the German championship recently.
--IANS
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