Defending champion Gaurav Gill (co-driver Stephane Prevot) kicked up a lot of dust and with it some interest for the spectators as he gained a slight edge over Team MRF mate Ole Christian Veiby (Stig Skgarmoen) in the Super Special Stage of the Coffee Day India Rally 2017, the final round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship here on Friday.
Gill stopped the clock at 02:17.77s, better than Veiby's 02:17.99.
Earlier, it was the young Veiby from Norway who topped the shakedown timings. It must have put some pressure on the Indian star.
“There's no pressure. Actually, I am trying to be calm,” said Gill, who is facing a tight fight for the title after quite a few years.
In the MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship, Younis Ilyas (Harish Kumar) was the quickest overall.
The results (SSS, provisional): FIA APRC: 1. Gaurav Gill & Stephane Prevot (Team MRF) 02:17.7s; 2. Ole Christian Veiby & Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF) 02:17.9; 3. P.G. Abhilash & Srikant Gowda (Team R3A PGA Motorsports) 02:30.5.
MRF FMSCI INRC (Overall): 1. Younis Ilyas & Harish Kumar 02:35.7; 2. Arjun Rao & Satish Rajagopal (Volkswagen Polo R2) 02:36.2; 3. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (Mahindra Adventure) 02:36.6.
