FIA RALLY STAR GILL FLIES TO MAIDEN JUNIOR WRC VICTORY
FIA Rally Star Taylor Gill scored a breakthrough victory in the FIA Junior WRC Championship yesterday (August 4) with a highly accomplished comeback drive on Secto Rally Finland, which was made even more challenging due to intermittent rain and wet conditions.
In doing so, the 20-year-old from Australia, who is co-driven by compatriot Daniel Brkic, will start the next month’s title decider in Greece in second place, eight points behind FIA Rally Star team-mate Romet Jürgenson.
Estonian Jürgenson was leading before he went off the road in a slippery section of stage six while adjusting his line to avoid a partly submerged rock in the road. He clocked nine fastest stage times as he recovered to 12th position.
Gill’s victory, meanwhile, follows Jürgenson’s maiden triumph on Croatia Rally in April and continues the FIA Rally Star team’s unbroken run of podiums in this season’s highly competitive Junior WRC, which began with Jürgenson’s second place in Sweden and continued when Max Smart finished third on the previous round in Sardinia.
Like Jürgenson, Smart was also unable to make it through leg one due to wheel hub damage sustained running over a hole on stage eight. The South African returned to the high-speed action on leg two and came through to finish 11th.
Peru’s Jose ‘Abito’ Caparó scored Junior WRC points for the second time in ninth place on the back of a performance in challenging conditions that belied his lack of experience.
FIA Vice-President for Sport Europe Anna Nordkvist, WRC Commission Chairperson Pernilla Solberg and FIA Road Sport Director Andrew Wheatley were in Finland to follow the FIA Rally Star drivers’ impressive progress aboard their Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta Rally3s run by M-Sport Poland.
The FIA Road Sport Department, which conceived and manages the FIA Rally Star programme, received extensive assistance from FIA Member Club, AKK, plus the Sector Rally Finland organising team, before and during the event.
FIA Rally Star Project Leader Jérôme Roussel said: “It was not a big surprise to see Taylor winning because he put so much effort and preparation into this event along with his co-driver Dan. He came back from his earlier delays and managed the final day with a lot of pressure from behind. Winning rallies by a small margin is something you have to do to be a world champion and I’m really proud of Taylor and Dan. I’m sad for Romet because he was very fast, maybe the fastest driver of all, and was once again very unfortunate. He had in his notes an embedded rock he wanted to avoid so he didn’t have a puncture, but just by moving 10 centimetres off line, the rear of the car snapped and he was a passenger. There was no way to take the car out of the ditch despite it having no damage, so it was really frustrating. But he’s still leading the championship which is the main thing for him. We’ve had at least one car on the podium at each event and won twice and it will be great that two FIA Rally Star drivers, Romet and Taylor, will be fighting for the title in Greece. We knew this rally would be a big challenge for ‘Abito’ and Max because of the speed and the special nature of the stages. The conditions only increased the challenge, but they were able to cover lot of kilometres, which was really important and will make them better drivers. I would like to thank Miikka Anttila, who joined the FIA Rally Star team as Sporting Advisor for Rally Finland. He was really a key in the team’s performance, working really hard before the rally to explain the specifics of the stages, and during the rally when he was able to provide valuable information on the stages in the full knowledge of the situation.”
FIA Rally Star Secto Rally Finland driver-by-driver round-up (listed in seeded order)
#64 Romet Jürgenson (24, Estonia) Co-driver: Siim Oja (EST)
Jürgenson was leading by 10.2s when he went off the road in slippery conditions avoiding a partly submerged rock on his intended line. With his Ford Fiesta Rally3 stuck in a ditch, the Croatia Rally winner retired from leg one. After restarting on Saturday, Jürgenson battled back to finish 12th overall. By recording nine Wolf Stage Win points, the Estonian takes an eight-point lead into the season-deciding EKO Acropolis Rally Greece next month.
Romet Jürgenson: “It’s mixed feelings. I’m obviously disappointed with the result because of Friday’s mistake. On the other hand, we showed great speed to grab nine Stage Win points. That’s good for the championship and although we couldn’t make a good result this time, everything is still open in Greece. What happened on Friday means I now know what I can’t do in damp and wet conditions because once you go out of the line there’s nothing you can when there’s so much extra mud on the outside of the corner. We now head to Greece when there will be double points. It’s winner takes it all so may the best one win.”
#66 Taylor Gill (20, Australia) Co-driver: Daniel Brkic (AUS)
Gill, who moved to Finland when he was selected for the FIA Rally Star Training Season in 2023 as the Asia-Pacific winner, led by 5.0s after six stages, dropped as low as eighth due to two deflated tyres and an overheating issue caused by a partly blocked radiator, before resisting intense pressure from rival Ali Türkkan to win in the Junior WRC for the first time. By scoring 27 points, Gill will start the Acropolis title decider eight points off the lead.
Taylor Gill: “I don’t think I will believe what has happened for a few weeks yet. It’s been an incredible weekend. So much was thrown at us but we never gave up and always kept our eyes on the top spot and never looked back. I kept trying to keep in a good rhythm and set the stage times and see where that would take us. To end up as the winner has been a whirlwind but a result like this is the culmination of all the training we’ve done with the FIA Rally Star programme, with the guys from ESP and everything I’ve done myself on the side. It’s all come together and it will take a lot to top this result. To win Rally Finland at our first attempt means so much to me because I live here and also my father and Dan’s father were here this weekend so it’s super-emotional. We’ve managed to take a big haul of points from this weekend and we now have a much better chance of winning the championship than we did before this rally.”
#68 Max Smart (21, South Africa) Co-driver: Cameron Fair (GBR)
Smart didn’t let the disappointment of his stage-eight retirement – the result of wheel hub damage sustained running over a hole in challenging weather conditions – knock him off his stride and he fought back to finish 11th and gain more crucial experience.
Max Smart: “This event was extremely tough because you really had to commit to the fast stages. In the rain when the visibility was super-low and the grip was ever-changing, that was super-demanding and it definitely made this one of the most challenging rallies I’ve ever done. I’m disappointed with having to retire on Friday due to hitting a really small hole on the inside of a very slow square left corner when I had too much lock on the wheel and it sheered the bolts off the hub. That just made me more determined to finish this famous rally. I really didn’t want the rally to end because on every stage we were learning, getting better, getting faster and gaining confidence. Doing Rally Finland really steps you up as a driver because it demands so much from yourself, the trust and belief you need to have and that can only help me on the final round in Greece.”
#76 Jose ‘Abito’ Caparó (27, Peru) Co-driver: Esther Gutiérrez (ESP)
Caparo scored Junior WRC points for the second time this season following a determined drive in challenging weather conditions. He worked hard to remain focus and gained plenty of knowledge.
Jose ‘Abito’ Caparó: “For my first experience of Rally Finland I’m really pleased to have taken so much out of this event and scored more championship points. It was an amazing rally with very famous, historic stages. The jumps made this very different to anything I have done before and it was even more difficult than I expected because of the rain. In the muddy conditions I just tried to keep relaxed. After the big moment following a jump on Ouninpohja I tried to balance the pace. We did the job by improving, learning and trying to avoid any mistakes. It was only my fourth event with Esther but she was amazing and very professional and each of us adds something good in the car. For sure the next rally in Greece is going to be very different but I take 1000 things from this event for my experience.”
FIA Junior WRC Championship event schedule refresher
The 2024 FIA Junior WRC Championship consists of five rounds as follows:
Rally Sweden (Snow/ice), February 15-18
Croatia Rally (Tarmac), April 18-21
Rally Italia Sardegna (Gravel), May 30-June 2
Secto Rally Finland (Gravel), August 1-4
EKO Acropolis Rally Greece (Gravel), September 5-8
What’s next?
EKO Acropolis Rally Greece marks the fifth and final round of the 2024 FIA Junior WRC Championship from September 5-8. Based in the central city of Lamia, the gravel event is one of the toughest on the calendar due its combination of rock-lined roads, high ambient and ground temperatures and the potential for hanging dust.