New Delhi: Gaurav Gill is among India's top rally drivers. He drives for Team MRF in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and in September 2008 became the first Indian to win a race at this level when he took the chequered flag in Indonesia.
Like other events in the world of motorsports, the APRC too was hit this year by the economic slowdown with just three teams participating in the opening race. But now the other teams have come on board and a full season of rallying lies ahead.
Cricketnext.com Editor Ranabir Majumdar caught up with Gaurav Gill before he flew out to Australia, where the second race of the APRC will be held on the May 9-10 weekend in Queensland.
Ranabir Majumdar: You travel to Australia for the second race of the APRC after having missed the first because Team MRF wasn't there. How will that affect the season and how are your preparations?
Gaurav Gill: Well it's not exactly a miss for us because there are seven rounds of the Asia Pacific Championship and out of those seven the governing body allows the teams to select six rounds, from which you collect championship points. The team and the driver selects which six rounds (all in different countries) he wants to go to according to his budget plans. This is one way of keeping the budget under control as well. Team MRF has decided to go in for the Rally in Australia, New Zealand and Japan for the Pacific round and then for the Asia round we come to Indonesia, Malaysia and China.
In terms of preparation, I am pretty glad that I have been racing in the Production World Rally Championship, so the preparation has been going on and on and it's been in process. The physical and the mental aspects of training are fine. Something new for this year is the car that we have this year, the Mitsubishi Evo 10.
Ranabir Majumdar: The economic slowdown has hit all sporting activities across the world, including motorsports. Formula 1 teams have been bought and sold. How has that affected rallying and how have the teams and the sponsors coped with it.
Gaurav Gill: If you talk of the economic slowdown, our sport has been the worst hit because this is the sport where you need tonnes and tonnes and pots of money. This is the world's most expensive sport. Our cars alone cost upwards of many crores of rupees. MRF initially did decide to pull out of the championship because of the current economic scenario. Then they decided to go ahead with one car with me instead of the usual two or three car set-up. But then there was a long wait because of which we missed the first race, but MRF wanted to be absolutely sure of what they wanted to do this year and they finally decided to run a two-car team. The economic slowdown has really affected the sport. Even at the world championship level, top teams like Subaru and Suzuki have pulled out. But it's the passion that keeps us all going and I am lucky that I am driving in this season.
Ranabir Majumdar: Gaurav, tell us something about the role of the navigator. Your navigator is Glenn McNeall of Australia. Have you guys been in a team before, what's the rapport like and what's the real thing between a driver and a navigator?
Gaurav Gill: I was with Glenn the year before last. And when Glenn came to co-drive with me, my speed on a scale of 10 went from seven to nine. He has great experience in the world championship and he has been co-driving with some of the top rally drivers in the world, some of whom are ex-world champions. So he quickly picked up the do's and the dont's of my driving and helped me improvise my style and improve my speed.
Coming to the role of a co-driver, his role is massive. The relationship between the co-driver and the driver is like husband and wife. The co-driver has to understand what the driver will do next before even he actually does it. He has to deliver the pace notes, which are made during the reconnaissance days. We need to know the distances, angles of the corners, there are turns that broaden or widen, there are places where we jump on a turn or dip or rock. And all this information has to be provided by the co-driver to the driver in those split-seconds when the car is doing a 140-150 kph. If the co-driver goes wrong, there's no coming back, you will crash. If you're committed to the pace notes, then you're actually driving blind. If you're looking and driving you'll never crash, but rallying is basically about listening and driving blind. A co-driver can make you win or lose.
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Ranabir Majumdar: Your teammate for this season Taguchi was with you last year as well. How is your rapport with him and do the two of you prepare for a race together? There is obviously an element of competing with each other as well as against other teams.
Gaurav Gill: It's a very competitive world out there, so there's not much being shared between the two of us. We want to beat each other and it's very natural and I am always game for that. I always want to be competitive. But I've learnt a lot from Taguchi and he's also been kind enough to tell me things. Eventually what happens is that you learn and you beat the guy who taught you and that's what happened to him when I beat him in Indonesia last year. He's been driving for many years and has heaps of experience, so I try and grasp all the experience I can from him.
Ranabir Majumdar: You will be a driving a new Mitsubishi Evo 10 this season. Mitsubishi obviously has a tradition and a pedigree when it comes to rallying. Why did you choose this car and what are your expectations from it?
Gaurav Gill: I drove the Evo 7 two years ago and the Mitsubishi Lancers Evolution series are definitely among the best cars in the world as far as both normal and competitive driving. They have one of the best four-wheel drive systems in the world and they are built like a tank. I drove the Evo 9 last year and I really enjoyed it. I drive the Subaru in the World Championship, but it's not as smooth as the Mitsubishi. I can sit in the Mitsubishi and go boom flat out, but in a Subaru I have to tune my body and mind for it. We decided to go for Evo 10 (for the APRC) because the Evo 9 was a superhit, it still is. It's won every single championship across the world. Evo 10 is a little heavier and it's a bit of a concern, but we can get the weights down by our modifications. The other advantage we will have with this car is its rear suspension, so we can take bigger jumps, longer jumps and faster jumps. It'll help you land like a cat and the car just has a better overall grip.
Ranabir Majumdar: Time for some rewind and back to last year's Indonesia rally. It was your first victory and the first for an Indian. Just take us through the rally and your emotions at that time.
Gaurav Gill: I remember every hour of the rally. I am a very competitive person and I was so frustrated after I broke my knee after meeting with an accident on my bike. I was on my bed for a couple of months, so I wanted to go out and prove it to myself that I could beat the best. I knew I could do that, but I had to actually do it to prove it. I just drove my heart out with all my concentration. I had the will to win it.
I couldn't believe it, but I knew I could do it. I was very excited, but it didn't really end on a very high note because I was sick and I was throwing up even as I was coming to the podium to collect my prize because I was dehydrated. Indonesia is really hot, the windows inside the car are up, you're wearing six layers of fire-proof clothing, so basically it's like 65 degrees inside the cabin.
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The best part was the hundreds and hundreds of SMS's on the phone when I went back to the hotel. That was the best feeling.
Ranabir Majumdar: I am going to rewind a bit more and ask you how you got into rallying. It's not a sport that is so popular in India and for someone growing up in Delh, where rallying is not so big, how did you take up this sport?
Gaurav Gill: It all started with my uncle Dicky Gill, who was one of the finest rally drivers of the country. I loved cars and bikes when I was a kid. I started driving when I was about nine years old. I just feel it and my family tells me that I was just born to do this. I don't have any explanation, but I just wanted to drive, drive, drive and fast. I started driving inside the house with a Maruti van and then one day I took the car driving around the neighbourhood. And the first time I drove a car, within five minutes I had taken the car on a dirt patch and I was doing skids and wheel spins. My uncle used to keep playing rally videos throughout the day and I saw them and I got fascinated. By the time I was 14-15, I had already started drifting the cars. I would keep stones on the roads, make a route and try and drift. Then I went to my uncle and told him that I was doing good, but he refused to teach me. He said if you can show me you're good enough to get up there, then I'll teach you. But then there was an auto-cross race in 1996-97 in Delhi and I was the fastest guy there and as a 16-year-old I beat the Himalayan rally champion. And that's where my uncle saw my talent and JK Tyres took me in to their team when I turned 18 and I won the first rally of my life on my debut.
Ranabir Majumdar: You've travelled across India and the world for your rallying and there have been special moments apart from the win in Indonesia. Tell us something about that.
Gaurav Gill: It's funny that I travel to all these places but I hardly get to see anything. Most of my close friends have started making jokes on this that Gaurav just sees hotels, forests (rally circuits) and airports. I have a 10-day programme for every rally but out of those 10 days I probably get one day to go out.
Ranabir Majumdar: Time for some quick-fire questions. What's your favourite sport apart from rallying?
Gaurav Gill: I am always linked with motorsports in some form of the other. I'd love to do motorcross. That's a very good way to keep fit also and I don't mind playing tennis. But I won't go and see tennis.
Ranabir Majumdar: Who's your sporting idol?
Gaurav Gill: I don't have any sporting idol. I like ex-world champion drivers like Colin McGray and Carlos Sainz because that's what I want to be.
Ranabir Majumdar: What are your hobbies?
Gaurav Gill: Sleep. But I do party a lot with friends, but outdoors. All my best friends are the outdoor, adventorous kinds and are involved with motorsports. And I love traveling a lot and I love watersports.
Ranabir Majumdar: So, what's you favourite holiday destination?
Gaurav Gill: I would like to go to Hawaii. Of the places I have travelled so far, Portugal and Cyprus is good. They are very beautiful. I like the Mediterranean, the sea and the beach.
Ranabir Majumdar: Your favourite cuisine?
Gaurav Gill: I am a big foodie and just love my food. I love Thai food a lot and I always go for the local cuisine in every country.
Ranabir Majumdar: We've had music running in the background right through and it's all been different stuff playing. What's your favourite music?
Gaurav Gill: I love Punjabi music – most of the Canadian and British Punjabi remixes like Bally Sagoo and stuff. I can't live without music. Music is always playing in the house and in my car.
Ranabir Majumdar: Tell us your goal in one line. What does Gaurav Gill want to achieve?
Gaurav Gill: Definitely, the World Championship title. That's been my dream.
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