Gill searching for more Finnish success

Finland was where it all kicked off for Aussie rising star Taylor Gill, who is looking for more success in the Junior World Rally Championship.

Last year Gill took his first Junior World Rally Championship victory at Finland last year and since then he has gone from strength to strength.

The 21-year-old Australian has had a stellar start to the year, winning two of the three JWRC rounds to lead the title race by seven points over Swede rival Mille Johansson.

Gill and fellow Aussie co-driver Daniel Brkic kicked things off with a win in the icy and snowy opener in Sweden before also being victorious on the gravel in Portugal.

Despite battling punctures and overheating issues last start in Greece, Gill still fought hard to secure a strong second and retain his title lead.

Giving Gill and Brkic a further confidence boost is the location, given they currently live in the “land of the 1000 lakes” and even competed a local rally in Finland in their Ford Fiesta Rally3.

“Last year was like a dream come true, winning our first WRC round in front of a large group of our supporters from Australia,” Gill said.

“Even though we’re thousands of miles from home, having some Aussie support really does give you a boost.

“If you’d said to me a couple of years ago that Rally Finland would be my home event, I’m not sure I’d have believed you.

“But I feel comfortable on the stages, and having lived here for a while now, it does feel like home.

“Dan and I have prepared the best that we can, and now just need to drive a clean rally.

“We’ve had a very busy few weeks, competing in Greece, then in rounds of the European and Finnish rally championships, so I feel I’m in a good groove and driving well.

“After the rigours of Greece, it will be nice to drive a rally where we aren’t too concerned about punctures or damage to the car from big rocks. We can just concentrate on driving as fast as we can.

“There’s no doubt that Mille (Johansson) will be fast again, but he’s not the only driver we need to be keeping an eye on. I’m sure it’s going to be a fight right to the finish.”

The rally that features in the famous 24km Ouninpohja begins on Thursday.

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