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Source: Times of India



It's difficult to maintain a straight face while talking to Gaurav Gill. The laugh-a-minute sardar finds humour in nearly everything, from broken bones to missed chances. One would assume that he has a rather easy-come, easy-go outlook on life but there's a steely determination in Gill that's masked by his jokes.

He comes into his own, a transformation almost scary, on anything with wheels. A petrol head from head to toe, his many broken and mended bones bear marks of his love for speed, a lethal combination for a competitive driver like him.

"Sardar + broken bones = broken bones," he cracks up. "I'm a very competitive person and when I'm in a car or on the bike, I know only one way to drive. Fast. I want to go all out and learn while experimenting. If I crash, I just pick myself up and get back to doing it all over again," he states.

Easily the most talented rally driver in the country, the December 4 debut in the World Rally Championship Production Class for Team Sidvin, according to the 26-year-old, has come five years late.

"I should've been here, in WRC, at 21 but lack of infrastructure and big bucks kept me away. I'd nothing to do except wait... waiting for someone to come and help out," he sniggered. Plucked from obscurity at the of 19 in 1999, Gill has tried his hand at everything. He has won rallies galore, at home and abroad. The APRC win in Indonesia in August of this year was the most significant win by an Indian in an international rally. He even showed racing drivers a thing or two when he raced in the JK Tyre National Championship.

At the mention of racing, Gill can't resist a jibe. "Well if you can call driving around a track racing. Rallying requires skills like versatility. In rallying, you don't know what lies round the corner. Intelligence and adaptability are inherent qualities," he espouses.

The Rally of Wales will be a severe test of Gill's driving abilities. Though his speed isn't in doubt, driving in the cold will be a first for him. "The temperature is expected to be -6 degrees but I'm not going to make it an excuse. I have a job to do."

Eager to be a part of the team next year, Gill's final destination, like any other rally driver's, is to be part of a full spec WRC team and he has given himself three years to achieve it. "Mohan (Nagarajan) of Team Sidvin is doing his best and 4 million euros will buy me a third seat in a low-rung team. Do you know what they call such drivers? A gentleman driver. I will give up rallying before things come to that," he declares.

Typical of a man who sets off the metal detectors shrieking because there are 12 screws holding him together.