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Gill ‘sticks to his brand’ of racing, wins
Team MRF "stuck to their brand" of racing, as they clinched two positions on the podium in the second round of the Asia Pacific Rally championship in Queensland, which concluded on Sunday.
Team MRF "stuck to their brand" of racing, as they clinched two positions on the podium in the second round of the Asia Pacific Rally championship in Queensland, which concluded on Sunday.
Even as their drivers, Gaurav Gill and Katsuhiko Taguchi, who stood second and third on the final result sheet, walked in for the presentation ceremony, the usual respect for a fellow rally winner was missing.
England's Mark Higgins, a James Bond stunt double who stood in for the legendary character in the 'Quantum of Solace', won the rally, a few trophies but not as many fans.
It was learnt that Higgins, who represents the Soueast Motors Kumho Team, had ran on Pirelli tyres on the second day of the rally. Though the rules don't comply teams to stick to their sponsors, it was ironic that the team displaying Kumho Tyres, one of the leading tyre brands in Australia and amongst the top-10 in the world, didn't trust their product enough to tackle the rough forest roads of Queensland.
Asked about it, Higgins evaded the question saying, "We had a lot of tyre options and, I think, we went for the best one."
Taguchi's co-driver Mark Stacey didn't let him get away with it. "We are on the MRF Tyres as you may have noticed and we have tried several different types of our tyres. But, we did actually stick to our own brand," said the 48-year-old Australian, attracting guffaws from the podium and crowd.
