Gaurav Gill to return to World Rally Championship-2 this year
The 42-year-old plans to take part in at least ‘five to six’ rallies, starting with the Safari Rally in Kenya from March 28-31
Indian rally ace Gaurav Gill will return to the World Rally Championship-2 (WRC2) this year after a lean 2023 where he took part in only one event – the Acropolis Rally of Greece in September.
However, this year the 42-year-old plans to take part in at least ‘five to six’ rallies, starting with the Safari Rally in Kenya from March 28-31.
“It has become difficult to participate in WRC2 due to sponsorship reasons as the seasons have also become longer. I now prefer to pick and choose rallies, selecting to participate in those where I think I have a strong chance of standing on the podium. Also, we have got a new WRC2 car (Skoda) which should do well in the rallies,” said Gill, the only motorsport athlete to receive the Arjuna award.
WRC2 is the main support championship of WRC with the calendar consisting of the same rallies and stages as the parent series. It is limited to production-based cars homologated under Group Rally2 rules. There are separate championships for teams, drivers and co-drivers.
The 13-round 2024 WRC2 calendar started with the Monte Carlo Rally in January and will conclude with the Rally Japan in November.
Gill will also be returning to the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) where he clinched three titles in 2013, 2016 and 2017. Though 2017 was his last full season in APRC following which he made a shift to WRC2, Gill keeps returning to the regional championship once in a while, doing only one round – South India Rally in March – last year.
“I will also be back in APRC with JK Tyre in the new Skoda where I plan to do three rallies. That is the plan as of now,” said Gill, who has also ventured into entrepreneurship, co-owning Gujarat Trailblazers in the inaugural Indian Supercross Racing League (ISRL).
The six-round 2024 APRC will begin with the South India Rally (March 15-17) where Gill will start his season before the calendar ends with the Rally of Whangarei in New Zealand in November.
“Apart from that we will also be back in the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) with Mahindra. That is going to be a part of the whole series. I am also planning to do pro drifting in the Middle East and Europe for which we are building a new car,” concluded the seven-time national rally champion.
