Bangalore INRC: Gill clinches fifth title with win

Gill was a class apart from the rest of the field as he topped all six stages, clocking a total time of 55m41.6s in his Super XUV 500.

He finished nearly three minutes ahead of nearest rival Arjun Rao, while Karna Kudur, who finished another 32 seconds adrift, completed the podium spots.

“It was a perfect day, a perfect finish for us,” Gill said. “The first couple of stages were slippery but we managed to handle them well; we controlled the rally thereafter.”

With four wins in five rallies, Gill comfortably claimed another national title, ending the season with 100 points.

The New Delhi-born driver could have completed a clean sweep of wins, if he hadn’t had to skip the Rally of Chikmagalur due to the concurrent APRC round in the same town.

In the end, however, it made little difference to his title ambitions as he finished 37 points clearest of Dean Mascarenhas, who had a troubled outing on the outskirts of Bangalore.

The Volkswagen Polo driver rolled into a ditch in the first stage of the rally, before losing yet more time with a puncture in SS2. He eventually finished a distant eighth, putting paid to his slim chances of stealing the title.

Mascarenhas’ troubles allowed Kudur to end just nine points behind him in the final championship classifications.

Meanwhile, Rao, the only driver with an R2-spec VW Polo in the field, could end no higher than sixth in the standings despite finishing second in Bangalore.

Rao had shown strong pace all throughout season, but three early retirements ended any hopes of finishing higher up in the championships.

The 2016 INRC title winner, however, still managed to finish one place higher than Mahindra’s Amittrajit Ghosh, who suffered a crash in the final stage and couldn’t make it to the flag.