Gill storms to JWRC Portugal win

By Timothy Neal

Date posted: 19 May 2025

Aussie pair Taylor Gill and co-driver Dan Brkic have romped to victory at Rally Portugal, taking their second straight Junior World Rally Championship and WRC3 round.

After taking out the opening snow and ice round in Sweden, Gill hit the front of the field on Friday morning on his preferred gravel surface, and maintained the lead across the gruelling 24 stage rally.

With his main FIA Rally Star rival Mille Johansson rolling his Ford Fiesta Rally3 on the opening day, Gill and Brkic showed the ultimate composure to come home as winners by +13.4 seconds.

Back on the gravel, Gill and Brkic dominated the JWRC in Portugal

“What a tough weekend. So long and so demanding — physically and mentally,” Gill said.

“I’m really proud of the job we did. We really came out of the box firing on Friday morning and controlled the rally from there.

“Big thanks to everyone who gave me this opportunity. Dan (Brkic) did a mega job this weekend, and there are so many people behind the scenes who contributed to this result. I’m just so happy right now.”

As it stands, the youngster from Newcastle banked 25 points – plus 7 bonus points – to sit level with the swede in the title race, but air the top of the tree via weight of his two victories.

In topping the Junior class, Gill once again found himself at the top of the WRC3 field despite only competing in two of the five class outings this season.

Johansson did come hard at Gill in an effort to close down the gap, which by Saturday morning had blown out to over one minute, with the Aussie nursing the pace in his M-Sport Ford to hold a +49.1 second lead for the final six stagers on Sunday.

With one bonus awarded for JWRC stage wins, Johansson’s 13 gained him enough to keep the pressure on Gill, with both drivers on 59 points heading into Round 3 on June 26-29 at the Acropolis Rally Greece.

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Gill storms to JWRC Portugal win

As it stands, the youngster from Newcastle banked 25 points – plus 7 bonus points – to sit level with the swede in the title race, but air the top of the tree via weight of his two victories.

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