India’s Gaurav Gill (co-driver Stephane Prevot of Belgium) won the 2017 Rally of Hokkaido in his MRF Team Skoda and moved into the lead of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship points, ahead of the final round in India late November.
There was high drama on the first morning when four of Gill’s main rivals retired on Stage 3, including his MRF team-mate Ole Christian Veiby from Norway. Gill, though, completed both days with no problems.
Arriving in Hokkaido, Veiby led the championship points, but his off-road excursion on day one means the title will now be decided in India.
Behind, it was Mpart’s Robert Blomberg (co-driver Lars Andersson) in the Mitsubishi Mirage, taking his first podium of the season, finishing 11m 41.4s behind Gill. Third in the APRC class went to Fuyuhiko Takahashi (co-driver Mitsuo Nakamura) in the Subaru Impreza.
The title fight goes into the final rally of the season, with the Rally of India to be held from Nov. 24 to 26.
