National, 6th September, 2023: JK Tyre prodigy & Indian rally ace Gaurav Gill, is all set for his World Rally Championship (WRC) outing of the 2023 season. The only Arjuna awardee in the motorsport category, Gill will be participating in one of the world’s toughest rally – the Acropolis Rally of Greece scheduled from 7th– 10th September, 2023.
Widely hailed as the ‘Rally of Gods’, the event will cover a total distance of 1,235 km, including 15 special stages stretching across 307 km over four days this weekend. This year as well, the spectators will witness 72 teams fighting it out for their spot in the grueling event.
Only Indian amongst the world’s best rally drivers, Gill will compete in the 30-car WRC 2 category in a specially-prepped Škoda Fabia R5 alongside his French co-driver, Florian Barral. Supported by an excellent and potent pit crew team of Italian team Delta Rally, Gill will try to set new benchmark for himself. The rally will also be featuring previous Acropolis winner and current WRC 2 championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen along with title rivals Yohan Rossel and Sami Pajari.
The Skoda Fabia R5 Rally 2 spec car with a 5-speed, sequential, manual gearbox, that enables a driver to shift gears in milliseconds. The R5 is geared to touch a top speed of 200 km/h.
Seven-time national champion and three-time APRC champion, Gill, will be in his element around the hot, dusty, and rock-strewn stages of the Rally Acropolis. Gill had put on a dazzling display of speed to finish sixth in a 35-car WRC 2 field last year.
On his participation this season, Gill said, “I’m really looking forward to driving in the Rally Acropolis. The sweltering heat, the dust, the rocky mountain passes and loose gravel all combine to make this one of the most punishing rallies on the calendar. This event is not for the faint-hearted but these conditions play to my strengths. I expect to be in my element this weekend and I’m going to give it everything to bring home a strong result.”
Last year, Gill, a master of gravel, finished his campaign just about 1 second per km behind WRC 2 leader E. Lindholm, while recording some of his best performances against seasoned WRC top category competitors, like T. Neuville. Putting himself and his car to the ultimate test in a low-visibility situation in the previous year, Gaurav is all set to take on the challenge this season as well.
The action starts post the ceremonial flag-off in Athens on Thursday as the teams will be ready to take on the brand new EKO Super Special Stage located in and around the city’s waterfront spanning 1.48kms. World’s top Rally drivers will run one at a time displaying their mean machines in front of thousands of fans.
Fans cheering for Gill can watch the event live on www.wrc.com
About JK Tyre Motorsport:
JK Tyre has been closely associated with the world of motorsports for almost three decades. The company laid down a long-term plan to popularize and promote the sport in the country. Its first target was to change the notion that this was a sport for the elite. So, it packaged and redesigned it in a spectator-friendly way, drawing the masses to the sport. JK Tyre’s efforts started paying dividends in just a few years’ time, with the likes of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok going all the way to the F1 rung, the highest level of single-seat racing in the world. Since then, a number of stars emerged, including Armaan Ebrahim, the Maini brothers (Kush and Arjun), Anindith Reddy Konda, amongst many others. JK Tyre Motorsports is very proud of the role it has played in bringing women into motorsports in a big way. Apart from encouraging them to get into the sport through karting as kids, the company also gave them opportunities in various national championships. With a vision to promote women in motorsports, the company has curated women-centric events such as JK Tyre WIAA Women’s Rally to Valley, JK Tyre Defence Wives Power Drive, JK Tyre-YFLO Women’s Power Drive, JK Tyre Times Women’s Drive apart from introducing an all-women’s team in the JK Tyre National Racing Championship to encourage women to take up to the sport.
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