Gill and Brkic Eighth Following Gruelling Acropolis Rally Greece

The fifth and final round of the Junior World Rally Championship for 2024 saw Australians Taylor Gill and Dan Brkic come home in eighth place, following an enduring Acropolis Rally Greece.

Romanian, Norbert Maior, secured class victory at the event, finishing more than a minute ahead of 2024 JWRC winner, Romet Jurgenson from Estonia.

The event started strongly for the 20-year-old, successfully navigating Friday’s stages to be fourth at the end of the loop. Although Gill and Brkic were running third towards the end of the opening day, an untimely puncture dropped them one position and off the podium.

“Throughout Friday we were driving at a comfortable speed, but unfortunately the puncture set us back.” said Gill.

Out to make amends, Gill kicked off Saturday morning’s loop well, showing great pace to make up a position to be third in the morning.

Unfortunately, the brutal Acropolis stage conditions reared its ugly head on SS11, the duo sustaining damage to the rear control arm on their #59 Rally3 Ford Fiesta, severely hampering their chances of winning the JWRC Driver’s Championship.

With a compromised Fiesta, just making it to the end of the day became the Gill’s new objective.

“The rough roads damaged the rear of the car, and we simply had to nurse it through.” Said Gill.

“Initially, the rear control arm was bent, however, it eventually broke completely as we made it to the end of the day”.

With a JWRC class win off the cards, Gill and Brkic instead focused their attention on damage limitation, pushing hard to claw their way from Position 10 on Sunday morning, to finish the rally eighth in class.

Although disappointed with the mechanical dramas sustained on Saturday, Gill and Brkic were pleased with their maiden performance on the international stage in 2024 and remain optimistic for what’s to come in their world rallying journey.

“Regardless of the final outcome, we’re very proud of our efforts this season and can hold our heads high knowing we gave ourselves the best possible chance at championship victory in the last round.” said Gill. 

Co-Driver Brkic added. “It’s easy to get ahead of ourselves, but we must remember that Rally Sweden at the start of the season was our first rally in the WRC.

“At the start of the season, we didn’t know where we would stack up, but to know we can now mix it with the best juniors in the world fills us with confidence as we move forward.”

With five rounds of five run and won for the JWRC in 2024, Gill and Brkic closed their season in an encouraging fourth position, just shy of a podium result by a meagre three-points.

Jurgenson, took out the JWRC crown, amassing 108-points over the course of 2024 and capped off his season with a strong second-place finish in Greece.

Season 2024 was highlighted by victory in Round 4 of the JWRC at Rally Finland, Gill and Brkic becoming the first Australians to net class victory in the JWRC’s history.

If you missed out on the action from Acropolis Rally Greece, you can tune into the action on demand via Stan Sport and Rally TV with an active subscription.