Gilmour Aims To Match World Championship Pace

Gilmour Aims To Match World Championship Pace

Emma Gilmour is determined to justify her selection as one of two local wildcard entries in the Production Car World Rally Championship (PCWRC) division of this week’s Rally New Zealand by matching the pace of the leading international drivers in the class.

Gilmour, who contested four rounds of the world championship last year, and who has finished second in the race for first Kiwi honours on Rally NZ previously, admits she is
still working hard to regain her competitive edge, which took a severe blow after her major accident on the Whangarei Rally back in May.

With that in mind, the Dunedin-based Subaru driver has set herself day-by-day goals for Rally NZ in 2007.

“Being awarded the Rally NZ Scholarship that granted me the wildcard PCWRC place is a great honour, and with the event running over three days, there is an ideal opportunity to get right back up there in terms of pace,” she says.

“My aim will be to pick things up day-by-day, so that on the final leg of the rally – which runs through some stages I really love - I will be right on the pace of the PCWRC regulars.”

Gilmour has been spending time on two wheels as well as four in her build-up to New Zealand’s round of the world series.

“I have been way off the beaten track doing quite a few hard miles on my Yamaha trail bike,” she says. “Trail riding is an ideal way of sharpening your reactions, and is just like rallying in that it requires you to read the terrain”.

Rally New Zealand, which is the 11th round of this year’s world championship and the fifth round of the New Zealand rally championship, starts on Friday and finishes on Sunday. Hamilton’s Mystery Creek Events Centre is the base for the event, which has attracted a 68-strong field including drivers from 25 different countries.

ends

© Scoop Media