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Slipping, sliding with India’s top rally driver Gaurav Gill
The afternoon ride HT took — in the co-driver’s seat of the former Asia Pacific Rally champion — was during the shakedown session of the Rally de North, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship.
Apart from the need to lift one’s leg a bit more to step over the roll-cage bars next to the seat, climbing into the rally-spec Mahindra XUV of multiple national champion, Gaurav Gill, seemed the same as getting into any other car. All that changed once I got strapped to the seat by the six-point harness. It suddenly dawns that you are in for a serious ride, a rollercoaster on gravel.
The afternoon ride HT took — in the co-driver’s seat of the former Asia Pacific Rally champion — was during the shakedown session of the Rally de North, the third round of the Indian National Rally Championship, on the outskirts of Gurgaon.
The eight competitive stages of the rally will be held on Sunday, while the shakedown was staged at the HUDA Open Space in Leisure Valley on Saturday, after the ceremonial start. It was meant to bring rally enthusiasts in the NCR up to speed with the country’s best rally drivers. But with Gill driving “at home for the first time in my rallying career” (before this, a national championship rally was held in the NCR 13 years back), his fans were pumped up with his two sons the chief cheerleaders.
“It’s not just about winning, but about driving the way I usually do, on the limit,” said Gill, as I clicked a selfie with the champ.
We were the first to go through the winding special stage on loose gravel. Gill revved up the engine as the countdown began and I could feel the adrenalin rush. One has heard drivers talk about the metaphysical connect they feel with the car after getting strapped in. Well, it is so true!
We roared on fourth gear before sliding into a controlled drift at the first corner, a 90 degree left-right turn. I had specifically asked the champion for drifts, and Gill was happy to oblige.
The stage laid out was tight with many sharp corners, hairpin bends and a couple of chicanes. We slalomed through the chicanes and almost did a 360 on the hairpin bend.
It was amazing how nimble the giant, truck-like, Mahindra was — testament to the rally tech these cars carry and to the skill of Gill, India’s best rally driver at the moment, and arguably, the best ever.
“We were the first to go out. So there was relatively less grip, and, on loose soil, it was a little slippery as well,” said Gill.
Well, slippery was good. There is nothing like the feel provided by the lateral G-forces while drifting in and out of corners on full throttle. It’s like a free fall. Just that it lasted just a second or two before the master on the wheel got the car back under control.
Then one shouted at him over the roaring engine: “Once more, man; the next corner…”
