Australia APRC: Veiby leads Gill after Leg 1
Christian Veiby led home MRF teammate Gaurav Gill after the first leg of APRC National Capital Rally in Australia on Saturday.
Ole Christian Veiby, Stig Rune Skjærmoen, Skoda Fabia R5, Team MRF
APRC
India’s Gill had established an early lead by topping the shakedown and the opening stage, but Veiby managed to overturn the deficit by winning back-to-back SS2 and SS3.
The 35-year-old then put on a counter challenge by emerging victories in three stages in a row, before Veiby claimed the last laugh by topping the final stage
The Norwegian holds a narrow 11.9s advantage over Gill heading into Sunday’s final leg.
Once again, former WRC driver Jari Ketomaa emerged as MRF’s closest challenger in his Mpart-run Mitsubishi Mirage AP4.
The Finnish driver topped the penultimate stage of the day to end just 25s behind Veiby in today’s standings.
Robert Blomberg finished nearly five minutes adrift in the second of the two Mitsubishis, while India’s Abhilash PG finished ninth in the overall classification after a difficult first leg in Canberra.
Sunday’s final leg comprises of six stages, with a total competitive distance of 120 km.
Leg 1 Results:
S.No |
Driver |
Car |
Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
Christian Veiby Stig Rune Skjarmoen |
Skoda |
1hr06m52.0s |
2 |
Gaurav Gill Stephane Prevot |
Skoda |
11.9s |
3 |
Jari Ketomaa Ville Mannisenmaki |
Mitsubishi |
25.0s |
4 |
Robert Blomberg Lars Andersson |
Mitsubishi |
4m45.1s |
9 |
Abhilash PG Srikanth Gowda |
Subaru |
12m35.7s |
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