It was just Gill’s third rally on the tarmac surface, and the Newcastle youngster started steadily on the first morning. As the rally progressed, so did his speed and he gradually climb up the leaderboard.
They were seeded seven in the JWRC. On Special Stage One, Gill spin his Ford Fiesta Rally3, which resulted in ninth fastest time. Then on Stage Three, a late puncture saw him lose more time, although at the end of the morning loop, he was fifth.
“It was a tricky morning for us on Friday. The stages were incredibly tough. At points throughout the morning, it was like driving on ice, so it was really testing me,” the 20-year-old explained.
In the afternoon, Gill found his groove and won two stage wins against a field of 18 other Junior World Rally Championship drivers. He sat third at the end of the opening day’s stages.
His form continued Saturday and by the end of the day’s third stage he had progressed to second place, a position he would hold for the next nine stages of the rally.
He had another stage win on Saturday afternoon and he went into the final day in a comfortable second place.
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“We lost a little bit of time on the last stage, due to having to run two wet tyres [even though the conditions remained dry], but we were able to hold position.
“For Sunday, it was all about holding position. We had a good buffer to third, but with only four stages left, the gap to first was too large to recover, so we focused on being consistent and keeping our placing.
“To be on the podium for the first time is really pleasing. Apart from the opening loop, we had a really clean run.”
Gill was beaten into first place by Estonian Romet Jurgensson, four years older and more experienced in the Croatia Rally as he has contested it previously.
His second place was the first time an Australian has been on a World Rally Championship podium since Brendan Reeves finished third in the junior category at the 2012 Acropolis Rally in Greece.
“Rallying on tarmac is quite a foreign experience for an Aussie from Newcastle, but Dan and I put in a huge amount of work in the lead up to the Croatia Rally, so to come home with a podium finish is a great reward.
“We still have three rallies left in the Junior World Rally Championship, so we’ll continue to work hard and try and build up as many points in the upcoming events.”
Gill and Brkic sit third in the Junior World Rally Championship after two of the five events. The next event in Italy at the end of May.
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