Fortunes change at the blink of an eye. Gaurav Gill found that out again on Sunday at the Rally of Whangarei, the third leg of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

The MRF Tyres driver was flying on Saturday, showing impressive control and aggression in almost all the stages, but Sunday it all turned upside down as he finished sixth.

The Indian driver had a gear box problem in the very first stage and even though he braved the chilly, windy, rainy conditions for the rest of the day, he was always fighting a lost cause. “The gear box broke and I was stuck on the second gear after that,” said Gill. “At places where others hit speeds of 150-200 km per hour, I was doing 70 to 80 km. This is the third time this year it’s happening,” said Gill, who had lost his first day’s advantage in Malaysia and Japan also.

To add insult to injury his car’s defroster stopped working and the windshield started misting, forcing him to keep the window open. But Gill, who was well prepared to fight the natural elements, was stumped by the mechanics. “I have no explanation why it happened, it just happened. The conditions were tough but this gear box problem was unexpected.”

Source: The Times of India: Sarath Pookkat