The Australian talent, already a winner at Rally Sweden, picked up right where he left off — blitzing Saturday morning’s opening stages to stretch his lead to 1min 26sec. But Gill wasn’t just fast — he was smart, too. Knowing when to push and when to protect the car, he eased off during the rockier second pass, managing his margin with composure well beyond his years.

Championship leader Mille Johansson, who rolled on Friday, mounted a determined fightback to keep the pressure on. The Swede won five consecutive stages in the afternoon to trim Gill’s advantage to 45.5sec, but with just six stages and 72 kilometres of action left, the odds remain in Gill’s favour.

Kerem Kazaz maintained third overall, over a minute behind Johansson but with a solid cushion of 1min 5.9sec over Max Smart in fourth. Smart climbed the order from sixth, gaining ground as Thomas Martens slipped to fifth and Ali Türkkan retired with a broken propshaft.

Joosep Nõgene and Eamonn Kelly ended the day sixth and seventh respectively, with Diego Domínguez eighth following a frustrating Friday. Tristan Charpentier restarted and immediately showed pace, clocking several top-three stage times, while Claire Schönborn also returned and logged valuable mileage on her maiden gravel rally at world level.

Adding further weight to his performance, Gill also leads the WRC3 category outright heading into Sunday.

Classification after SS18 (Saturday)

Taylor Gill (AUS) – 3:22:12.8
Mille Johansson (SWE) – +45.5
Kerem Kazaz (TUR) – +3:09.1
Max Smart (ZAF) – +4:15.0
Thomas Martens (BEL) – +4:35.3
Joosep Nõgene (EST) – +5:22.9
Eamonn Kelly (IRL) – +6:51.6
Diego Domínguez (PRY) – +18:54.2
Ali Türkkan (TUR) – +33:19.1
Tristan Charpentier (FRA) – +1:24:32.5
Claire Schönborn (DEU) – +1:46:51.0