Thanks to a stunning drive by India’s Gaurav Gill who made up a deficit of over two minutes to finish second, Team MRF delivered another 1-2 result with Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby comfortably winning the International Rally of Johor, the third round of FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship, here on Sunday.
Gill, the 35-year-old Delhi-based defending champion, came up with one of his finest drives ever in the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia R5, winning all the six Special Stages on Sunday that left the connoisseurs awe-struck as he roared past overnight second-placed Finnish ace Jari Ketomaa while Veiby held on to a huge Leg-1 lead to win by over four minutes, also in a Skoda Fabia R5.
The 21-year old Veiby, Skoda’s factory-backed driver who recently topped the WRC-2 category in Poland, thus scored back-to-back wins following the second round in Australia after Gill had taken the season-opener in New Zealand a month earlier. The win also helped Veiby consolidate his championship lead over Gill.
Provisional classification: FIA APRC: 1. Ole Christian Veiby & Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (3:02:39.1); 2. Gaurav Gill & Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:07:20.8); 3. Jari Ketomaa & Ville Mannisenmali (Mpart Sport, Mitsubishi Mirage) (03:07:39.5).
FIA Asia Cup: 1. Gaurav Gill & Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:07:20.8); 2. Michael Young & Malcolm Read (Cusco Racing, Subaru Impreza) (03:18:42.9); 3. Yuva Sumiyama & Takahiro Yasui (Cusco Racing, Skoda Fabia R5) (04:10:42.8).
