Clean sweep Victory for Gaurav Gill, APRC Coffee Day India Rally, Chikmagalur

Gaurav Gill wins Coffee Day India Rally, the sixth and final event of APRC at coffee estates of Chikmagalur. Starting first on the road and winning all the stages of the Sunday. By this victory on home soil of the 2016 APRC season, Gaurav also has the honours of a clean sweep victory in all the six events of the championship. He and his team Skoda MRF Racing also won the APRC Driver, Co-Driver & Team Championship titles in the penultimate APRC round at Malaysian Rally.

Yesterday, Gill's team-mate Germany's tarmac ace Fabian Kreim retired early in SS3 after his Skoda Fabia R5's rear suspension broke in a minor accident and in the process blocking the road for the entire APRC cars who started behind him. No one were injured and the remaining cars had to turn back to the next stage start and the damaged Fabia was cleared from the stage in no-time.

Gaurav carried on with his stage after stage wins, and ended up in a commanding lead of over 7 minutes to his nearest chaser, New Zealand's Mike Young in a Cusco prepared Subaru R4. Sanjay Takale was the another Indian to complete on the podium, after Fabian early and later retirements of Yuya Sumiyama's Subaru STi R4 who had brake issues in the second run of the Chandrapura special stage (SS6), finally went off the road in a corner due to near failure of wheel stopping device.

In the final day today, with four stages remaining Fabian Kriem stole the victory of the opening two tests, while Gill took the day's third test to his crown.

Gaurav Gill took the rally victory with a commanding gap of 11m22s over second placed Micheal Young.