The Protons stole a march over MRF on day one of the New Caledonia leg of the Asia Pacific Rally championship.

But the rally leaders Team MRF are saying the fun and games are just beginning with the main action coming up over the weekend.

Proton’s Per Gunnar Anderson has toppled leader Chris Atkinson of MRF and is leading now by 3.9 seconds, a margin slender enough for fortunes to swing dramatically.

Gaurav Gill, MRF’s Indian driver who is hoping to be really competitive this season, said he had a bit of bad luck with a puncture on the competitive stage 2 of the section in the hills in the afternoon.

Gill is confident he will be up and about to challenge the race leaders. The news was worse for Proton’s other driver Alister McRae whose similar puncture in stage 2 saw his suspension take a bad hit and his car is out of the rally at least until Sunday.

The story of this season’s ultra competitive APRC rallying is going to be the tight battle between the two top international teams – MRF and Proton.

And since the Chennai corporate giant’s team is driving the international class Skoda 2000 from this year on, they are going to be really competitive unlike earlier years when the rules saw them a somewhat diminished combination against the teams run by manufacturers.

The highlight of the day was the showcasing of the event for the New Caledonians who turned up in thousands to watch the two super special stages held in the racecourse in the center of Noumea, the second under lights.

The daring of the rally drivers was brought out splendidly as the cars raced on the inside of the grass track, skidding, swerving, sliding and slipping as the drivers fought for control against the tight turns on the part grass and part dirt surface.

Rallying is not much of a spectator sport and is generally one for the hardcore fans and the motor enthusiasts but when it is put on display as it is in Noumea every year, the excitement of it comes out really well.

The local driver Burbou was the one most lustily cheered and believe it or not the applause was loudest for him when he hit the plastic cone markers on the outward bridge and his car took a suspension knock and he had to pull out right in front of the grandstand. Sometimes, it’s not always about the winners even in the hyper competitive motor rallies.

Standings (Day 1): 1. P.G. Anderson (Proton Motorsports) 26:52.9s, 2. Chris Atkinson (Team MRF) 26:56.2, 3. Gaurav Gill (Team MRF) 28:01.1, 4. Jean Louis Leyraud 29:40.6 (Pacific Cup), 5. Brian Green 29:51.4 (Pacific Cup).

Indian gill goes the extra mile for success

Behind an Indian sportsman’s ambition to compete against the best in the world is an intriguing tale of an 18-year-old beaten up Mercedes Benz sedan.

With Indian businesses as well as sport opening up to competition from around the world, all sportsmen have to go the extra mile too. This is where the novel idea of Gaurav Gill, the MRF rally driver, has come in handy.

Gill explains, “As an Indian rally driver on the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), I have to compete against some of the best drivers in the world. And I really can’t do it because as Indians we are not used to driving left hand drive cars.

All our instincts are based on driving on the left side of the road in right hand drive cars. This is why I thought of buying a cheap left hand drive car so I can start practicing driving instinctively from the wrong side of the car too.”

Try writing with your left hand, says Gill as he explains the peculiar problem he faces. While team mate Chris Atkinson, an Australian who lives on the Gold Coast, also has to contend with negotiating the left hand drives, which are the international standard since most countries use it, he does, however, get to drive about 15 rallies with left hand drive cars in a year as he competes in the APRC as well as the World Rally Championship.

“They don’t give you an inch in world sport,’ says Gill while putting his point of view of where Indians may lag a bit in rallying. “You have to be inch perfect. If you are not, you lose that vital second and it shows in your timings.

I found driving the Mercs on the Delhi roads and in outings a good experience helping me get the feel of left hand drives. I am slowly souping up the car so I can go faster and get my instincts up to left hand drive scratch,” he adds.

As Gill goes the extra mph in his old Benz, he reveals a great tale of how much Indian sportsmen have to do to stay really competitive in world sport these days.

The lesson is if Indians don’t go to such lengths, they can’t hope to beat the best in the world. There is indeed a sports management lesson in that old Benz..

Rich guy behind the wheel

An unusual guest at this rally is Brian Green, a real estate magnate from New Zealand.

He is rumoured to be one of the richest men on his island that is not far from this little piece of paradise in a more north eastern location in the pacific Ocean.

And he drives himself and so knows the road conditions himself as his team struggles to avoid the pitfalls of rallying.

Huge rocks in the path of the special stage cut out of a hillside in the middle of the island is posing huge risks for the drivers.

“But I don’t expect rallying to be a soft sport. “It’s very hard work”, Brian says as drivers and navigators use all their skills to keep their cars going even at the ‘shakedown’ they held Friday morning before the competitive stages began.

Being a practical guy with his feet on the ground, the Kiwi multi-millionaire is backing his team to the hilt.

Busy day for Tony

It’s been an unusually busy trip for the Racing Manager of the MRF team. Tony Rodricks already has greater responsibility than usual as his team is leading in the championship after round one.

The journalists of the small media team have been giving some trouble with one misplacing his cellphone in Singapore and another seeing his baggage not coming on the flight out because he had not checked it in himself in Sydney.

Kevin, the local tour manager, has had to tear his hair translating all the baggage queries into French to keep checking with the airlines in the hope the luggage will get here before the rally gets over on Sunday.