Gudang Garam International Rally Indonesia 2008 Results: Gaurav Gill wins as Katsu Taguchi and Cody Crocker continue their battle for the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship crown
Indian driver Gaurav Gill won the Rally Indonesia after a great battle with Cody Crocker ended two stages from the finish. Gill had led after the first day by 35s but Crocker responded on day 2 and was leading when his tyre deflated with two stages left of the rally. Crocker had been slowed on day 1 with a faulty camshaft sensor.
Gaurav Gill delighted to win:
This is great for Indian motorsports for sure, maybe they were expecting a podium from me but not a win. I expect it will surprise a few people. To be honest I felt a bit of pressure, but I knew I wanted to come here and win for sure."
Gill won the rally in the end by 1m 6.9s ahead of APRC leader Katsu Taguchi. Both men were piloting Mitsubishi Evo 9's. Taguchi had a puncture on day 1 which had him in 3rd o/a but he grabbed second after Crocker's deflation on the final day.
Indian champion Gill takes his first APRC win:
Cody Crocker commented about his flat and his championship chances:
Getting a flat right then was frustrating, but that’s rallying and we’ve walked away still in touch with Taguchi.
I’d say besides our home event in Canberra, Malaysia and China are our two best away events. So we’ll go into those confident of doing well, and if we do that, we’re in the box seat to make it three titles in a row."
It was an opportunity for Crocker in his Subaru WRX to put himself in a great position for the championship, but as he stated above he has two chances left to score whilst rival Taguchi has only one. Taguchi currently has 56 points while Crocker is on 48.
The next round of APRC, Rally Malaysia, is on 11-12th October.
TV commercial for the 2008 Rally of Indonesia:
Rally Indonesia Results:
1. Gaurav Gill / Jagdev Singh, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, 3h03m23.9s
2. Katsu Taguchi / Mark Stacey, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +1m06.9s (diff. to 1st)
3. Cody Crocker / Ben Atkinson, Subaru Impreza WRX, +2m35.7s
4. Rifat Sungkar / Bill Hayes, Subaru Impreza WRX, +5m20.9s
5. Subhan Aksa / Hade Mboi, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +7m55.8s
6. Akbar Hadianto / Arianto Sjarief, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +10m13.1s
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