He has driven in the World Championship and also came very close to the Asia-Pacific title a few weeks ago. With wins in the Asia-Pacific Championship's Indonesian round last year and this year's Australian leg, Gaurav Gill has proved that he is certainly something special.
The best Indian by many miles.
But when it comes to the Indian National Rally Championship, Team MRF's Gill, the defending champion, is going through a very disappointing season. He broke a jinx when he won the season-opening Rally of Maharashtra at Nashik for the first time, but failed to finish the next three rounds, in Coimbatore , Jodhpur and Bangalore
So, what has gone wrong?
“We've been struggling with our cars' set-up, there are some serious problems with our differentials,” said the 29-year-old on Wednesday evening, soon after landing in Kochi for the Misty Meadows Rally of Kerala which begins in Idukki on Friday.
“Nobody is beating us, we are losing ourselves,” said the country's first Asia-Pacific Championship runner-up.
“If we get good reliability, we can do well. I've been putting a lot of pressure and the workshop guys are doing their job but they are unable to sort out the matter.”
Jumping from the international series to the Indian circuit also means that Gaurav gets very little time for testing the cars.
“I've been travelling so much, am unable to do any testing,” said the Delhi-based star.
Gill, however, is hopeful that Kerala will see a change in his fortunes. “The new rally is good for drivers like me because nobody has an advantage. It's more challenging.”
So, can he make a comeback and catch up with the leaders with the next two rounds in Kerala and Hyderabad
“Why not,” said Gill, whose co-driver is the seasoned Musa Sherif. “Speed is never an issue. We actually need a victory to change the scene. But if we don't win this round, our chance of winning the title virtually goes away.”
Red Rooster Racings's V.R. Naren Kumar (30 points) and Vikram Mathias (27), both former National champions, and MRF's Arjun Rao Aroor (26), the winner of the chaotic K-1000 Rally in Bangalore a few days ago, currently occupy the top three spots this season. Gaurav has just 16 points from his Nashik rally triumph, also his lone finish this year.
He is looking forward to returning to the Production Cars World Championship next year.
“I'm always looking for money to get back to the WRC,” said Gaurav.
