China APRC: Gill extends points lead, Stohl takes overall win

Set in the rocky terrain of Zhangye, a new location for this year's Rally China comprised of nine stages, spread over 236 km with a total distance of 733 km.

Along with the APRC drivers, the rally saw Citroen fielding fours DS3 cars with Austrian Stohl (co-driver Bernhard Ettel), Chinese pair Wang Hua (co-driver Pang Jiandong) & Cheng Zifeng (co-driver Xiao Jianbo) and Australian Eli Evans (co-driver Glen Weston).

Stohl dominates, Gill consistent

The former WRC and WRX driver, Stohl maintained his overall lead throughout the rally, to take victory from Gill (co-driver Glenn Macneall), by just over five minutes.

The 2013 APRC championship completed the two legs in 2hr17m26s, and although Gill did not win any stages, the Indian's supreme consistency, along with troubles for his teammate Fabian Kreim (co-driver Christian Frank), allowed him to win APRC class and extend his points advantage.  

Any chance of Gill toppling Stohl was lost, when the Indian had to stop for a wheel change, losing four minutes mid-stage on Sunday.

“Its been a great event for us, something completely new, very fast stages in the desert, very hot," said Gill after the rally.

"The car went well, the tyres as well. Maximum points in the kitty, three out of three rallies, so couldn’t be better."

Hua in the other Citroen completed the overall podium, just ahead of Evans, while Imments Motorsport’s Takayama Hitoshi (co-driver Nakagawa Tomoyuki) finished second in APRC, driving a Subaru Impreza WRZ STI.

Behind Hitoshi, Kreim staged a superb recovery on Sunday, winning all three stages to finish third on the podium, after the German retired on Saturday with a turbo failure in SS5, but was allowed to return in the final leg under the new regulations.

Both Stohl and Kreim shared four stage wins each, but the Skoda driver's retirement from Saturday stages lost him any chance of challenging Gill and or Stohl.

While Kreim finished behind APRC regular Mike Young (co-driver Zhang Longxi), but with the Kiwi driving the special hybrid BYD car, he was not classified under APRC.

As a result, the German finished third in APRC class, while Imai Satoshi (co-driver Tanaka Naoya) finished fourth.

Rally China Results (APRC only):