APRC Pirelli Star Driver Mark Tapper finished 5th in P-WRC at Rally of Portugal, while India’s Gaurav Gill had a troubled run on Day 1, but bought his Subaru home in a points scoring 7th. Following are reports from the FIA.

Pirelli Star Driver Mark Tapper (NZ, Mitsubishi) had a few issues with engine power on the opening group of stages and on SS2 he overshot a junction which cost about 15secs, although he enjoyed the opening day. He struggled a bit on SS8 as he had raised the ride height overnight to protect the car but it changed the handling for the worse and then the power steering went half way through the next stage. But he continued his first WRC event outside his home country trouble-free on the final day, to score his first P-WRC points for fifth.

Gaurav Gill’s (IND, Subaru) rally didn’t get off to a good start as he broke a suspension arm at the end of SS2, seeing him incur 25 minutes of penalties in stages not completed through the rest of the day. He had a better start to day two but he slipped off the road just 6km before the end of SS11, which bent a wheel so he finished the day cautiously. Day three was problem-free and he also scored the first P-WRC points of his career for seventh.