Gaurav Gill dominated the fifth round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) held at the Malaysian Rally this weekend in his Team MRF Skoda Fabia R5, after winning the event with a commanding margin and also claiming the overall APRC drivers’ championship a round early.

Gill (India) and co-driver Glenn Macneall (Australia) built their lead from the very first stage before simply maintaining the gap after their fellow competitors suffered misfortunes over the two-day event around Kota Tinggi. The result means Gill can now be crowned the 2016 APRC drivers’ champion, the second time he has done so, and also helped Skoda claim the manufacturers championship a round early.

“I couldn’t ask for more. This year has been awesome and we’ve worked really hard. The car has been perfect, the team has been perfect, and we’ve had the perfect tyres and perfect setup at every rally which has helped us to get to where we are. I can’t thank the team enough,” said an elated Gill.

“Malaysia is one of the most difficult rallies of the year, it always has been, so it’s always a challenge to arrive at the end. Glenn [Macneall] has been a great co-driver and he’s been giving me tips on how to drive all these years so it’s been an amazing journey and I’m very thankful,” Gill continued.

While celebrations were enjoyed in the Team MRF Skoda camp, Jari Ketomaa and co-driver Mikko Lukka of Finland also celebrated with their Mitsubishi Mirage team after claiming the runner-up spot.