Gill secures Italian Challenger drive following WRC2 pace

Australian rally duo Taylor Gill and co-driver Dan Brkic are expanding their European campaign, having secured a late deal to contest a five-round program in the all-tarmac Italian Challenger Championship.

The opportunity to join the Italian squad behind the wheel of a Citroen C3 Rally2 comes directly off the back of Gill’s stage-winning performance at the recent WRC Croatia Rally.

“I got contacted the weekend after the Croatia Rally,” Gill said of the initial discussions.

“The team had an Italian sponsor, had the car there, and were looking for a driver. We had some positive dialogue with them and worked through a few formalities before we were able to secure it.”

Because the deal came together so rapidly, the pair will be forced to sit out the championship’s opening round next weekend, however their campaign will officially commence on June 13-14 at the Rally Valli Ossolane, near Milan.

“I am super excited to get started with this program and to work with a brand new team,” Gill said.

“It’s great to get some extra events on tarmac off the back of Croatia, where we made good steps, but still felt like we needed more seat time to be able to fight consistently. This opportunity provides us with that and gives us a base to work from.

“I’m keen to try a new car as well. The Citroen is meant to be a strong package on tarmac, so it will be interesting to suss that out and draw the comparison between that and the Toyota we've become a bit more accustomed to so far this year.”

This Italian series, in particular, is known for its sprint-style format, something which Gill sees as the perfect opportunity to improve a key area of his driving.

“The rallies are quite short and sharp, so we will really have to be on our game right from the start.

“I think this is a good thing for me to try and learn because it's been a bit of a theme in WRC2 this year that my first splits in a lot of stages have always been a bit slower than the rest of the stage. That’s something we're trying to investigate and work on, and these kinds of short sprint rallies will help us with that.”

Despite the new addition to his calendar, Gill was quick to reassure that his World Rally Championship ambitions remain unchanged.

“The priority is still to get the budget together for our WRC2 program and to keep showing our pace at the top level,” Gill confirmed.

“We are still working towards Rally Finland with the GR Yaris Rally2, but we still need to work through a few things there. It’s looking positive at the moment.

“This program in Italy will give us some more seat time, keep our name circling in Europe, and see what kind of results we can achieve in that championship.”

Both Gill and Brkic are currently in Australia, working hard to raise the budget to continue their positive start to 2026.

• Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic’s 2026 WRC program is supported by: Ferratum, PowerPlay, Accent Benchtops, FlowTech Australia, Hissi Keskus, Premier Pools, WOLF Sports, Dogbox Oy, Lithiumax, RallySchool Australia, Curiositi, The Oil Warehouse, M31 Consulting, Punkahajun Kilpi Oy, RallySport Magazine, and Ice Cube