Gill becomes 1st Indian driver to win FIA Asia-Pacific Rally

New Delhi: Gaurav Gill created history by becoming the first Indian to win the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship title on day one of the Rally of China.

Gill, with Australian co-driver Glenn Macneall, only had to finish the rally on day one to secure his first APRC title. Gill`s team-mate Esapekka Lappi was leading at the end of Day 1 with Gill in second place and Lappi is in a position to move up to second in the championship, having finished second in the S2000 category at the recent Sanremo Rally in Italy. There`s still one day to go, before the finish when Gill and the team can celebrate on the APRC podium. Gill suffered a puncture which cost him 2-3 minutes but managed to get back in the rally. Gill, who drives for Team MRF, said, "This is definitely the high-light of my career so far, we`ve come close on several other occasions and this year wasn`t easy either. I have to thank the team, my co-driver Glenn, Skoda and a big thank you to MRF tyres too as they`ve stuck with me all these years and so it`s nice to reward them and my country. We stopped and changed it loosing 2-3 minutes, but the main thing is to get it the car back here."