Robbie stokes

The Otago Rally: JK Tyre's Gaurav Gill put himself in the battle for the win with a top-three placing at the end of the opening day of the Otago Rally in New Zealand.

Piloting 2022 APRC champion and 10-time Otago Rally winner Haydon Paddon’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 machine, Gill and his New-Zealand based co-driver Jared Hudson were third on the timesheets, a little over 30 seconds behind overall leader Jack Hawkeswood and 11 seconds adrift of second-placed Robbie Stokes.

On day one, the drivers navigated through eight special stages. Gill lost fifteen seconds on stage 5 due to an error, but the triple-APRC champion offered proof of his outright speed by winning stages 4, 7 and 8.