Rally: Gill goes back to back

Gaurav Gill took out his third International Rally of Whangarei event, beating Team MRF teammate Ole Christian Veiby. Photo/John Stone

India's Gaurav Gill showed once again why he is tough to beat in Whangarei as he secured back to back International Rally of Whangarei titles.

Gill finished the three day event 2:02.8secs ahead of teammate Ole Christian Veiby, who ran into mechanical issues with just three stages to go.

Gill, who now is equal with Hayden Paddon for the most International Rally of Whangarei victories with three, said he loves racing in this part of the world.

"These roads are phenomenal, they're some of the best I've seen anywhere in the world. They're so fast, the car almost dances from one corner to the next," he said.

"It's so important you have the right set up so you can enjoy the ride.

"Winning is what we're all here to do. When you're a champion everyone wants to bring you down and when you aren't, you want to be in that position."

Gill entered the final day 33 seconds behind Veiby and needed a big push and a little bit of luck to go his way.

Fortunately he got both.

"We were running really well on Saturday but we had issues with the suspension that we couldn't really do much about, so we lost a little bit of time there," he said.

"It was good being back out there on the last day and pushing him with whatever we could muster. I was pushing him 110 per cent in the morning. At the same time I was changing the set up and making sure the chassis was working well.

"It was very, very difficult for me and while OC (Veiby) has been driving very well the incident today pushed him back, after we had some issues yesterday that pushed us back. So, I guess that is part and parcel of the sport. Our other most important thing is to have both cars sitting one and two for the MRF team."

The three time champion clearly loves racing in the area but he hasn't had the time to check out the sights as much as he would like.

However this gives him plenty of reason to return on top of attempting a three-peat.
"I will absolutely be back racing here again."

"It's tough because it's been like that [stuck behind the wheel] whenever I've come here for the rally but I'm going to make sure I come back here for a holiday.

Subaru driver Matt Summerfield was the best of the Kiwis finishing third overall and winning the New Zealand Rally Championship component of the event.

Auckland's Dylan Turner recorded a second place finish in his new Audi S1 finishing 1:06.4secs behind Summerfield.

Meanwhile four time Bathurst 1000 winner Greg Murphy had a debut to forget. Murphy only completed six of the 16 stages.