Aussies set for more learning in Slovenia

The pair have impressed in the opening two Rally Star events, taking a convincing win at the opening round in San Marino, and managing third at Rally Weiz on their first attempt at a tarmac rally.

For Slovenia and the upcoming Rally Nova Gorcia, Gill and Brkic are hoping for another positive result, and a continuation of their development in the Ford Fiesta Rally3.

The FIA Rally Star program has undertaken a six-week summer break between events, and for the Aussies, the time between the last rally in Austria in July and now has been a good time to reflect and settle into the European lifestyle.

“The break has been really good for us,” Gill explained.

“During the time off we’ve been able to work a lot and save some money, as well as take a trip to Croatia for some tarmac recce practice.”

With Taylor working as a mechanic and Dan a truck driver for local rally car rental business, Dogbox Oy, there’s been plenty of work for them in their Finnish hometown of Vaaksy.

“It’s been nice to have a set routine for a while,” Gill added.

“We also spent five days in Croatia doing recce practice on tarmac and trying to iron out some small issues that we found with our pace notes in Austria.”

The trip was well worthwhile, and both driver and co-driver felt the experience helped them a lot.

“Croatia was extremely valuable,” co-driver Dan Brkic said.

“We went there with a clear plan of what we wanted to work on, and we did that and came away with a heap of learning and a lot more confidence.”

This will put the duo in good stead for the beginning of this weekend’s rally, which will be only their second time on tarmac.

Gill is the top seeded FIA Rally Star driver, but admits that his lack of seat time compared to main rival, Romet Jurgenson, will be something he needs to overcome.

“We haven’t driven a rally car since Rally Weiz, and in that time Romet has competed in three rallies, so he has a bit of an advantage,” Gill said.

“Our aim is to again be consistent and get to the finish to build on our experience ahead of the remainder of the season.”

Four of the six drivers from the FIA Rally Star program will be awarded fully-funded drives in next year’s FIA Junior World Rally Championship, driving similar Ford Fiesta Rally3s that are being used in this year’s program.

This weekend’s Rally Nova Gorica starts with a short 2.25km stage on Friday night, before 15 stages and 150 competitive kilometres over the Saturday and Sunday.

Gill and Brkic are seeded 12th overall, behind a pack of higher-specification Rally2 and R5 Hyundais, Skodas, Fords and Volkswagens.

You can follow the action and keep track of Gill’s progress on EWRC.