Indian driver Gaurav Gill clinched this weekend’s Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), Rally Hokkaido, on Sunday and climbed to the top of the points chart.
Title-rival and teammate at MRF Skoda Fabia S2000, Esapekka Lappi was forced to retire for the third time this season when suspension failure on his car thwarted his charge.
“It’s been a really tough weekend – a very long, hard rally and it’s not been easy at all so we’re relieved to win today,” said Gill.
The results: 1. Gaurav Gill (Ind) & Glenn MacNeall (Nz) Skoda Fabia Super 2000 2h, 26m, 26.2s; 2. Yuya Sumiyama (Jpn) & Naoki Kase (Jpn) Subaru Impreza WRX STI +5m, 53.3s*; 3. Shuhei Muta (Jpn) & Takahiro Yasui (Jpn) Subaru Impreza WRX STI +10m, 07.5s*.
4. Sanjay Takle (Jpn) & Sean Gregory (Mys) Subaru Impreza WRX STI +30m, 24.6s; Michael Young (Nz) & Malcolm Read (Nz) Toyota Vitz +31m, 58.8s.
6. Hiroshi Asakura (Jpn) & Takumi Takahashi (Jpn) Proton Satrai Neo +39m, 59.6s.
FIA APRC Team Trophy: Team MRF Skoda.
* Registered for FIA Asia Cup points only
