Gilmour To Build On Solid Start At Saturday's South Canterbury Rally

After a solid season-opening outing last month at her home event, Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour is looking forward to building on this momentum at the South Canterbury Hydraulics-sponsored Rally South Canterbury on Saturday.

April's Otago Rally was the first full length event that Emma and her new co-driver Katrina Renshaw had contested together. They had two days to get dialled into competing at top pace in Emma’s Vantage Windows & Doors WRC2 C3 rally car and finished sixth overall and fourth of the teams entered in the full Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship.

Emma says it was good to be back in the C3 again after a long break recovering from a head injury incurred in an Extreme E crash in Sardinia six months prior to the Otago Rally.

“I felt like it had been a long time between competitive driving stints and the two intense days on the incredible Otago roads helped me build confidence and speed again. Katrina and I are learning how to best work together and will be further developing that vital driver/co-driver relationship over the eight South Canterbury stages on Saturday.”

“I am pleased to be sitting fourth in the championship at the moment and will be looking to consolidate those points this weekend,” she says.

The South Canterbury Rally begins on Friday with a ceremonial opening at the Mitre 10 Timaru carpark on Bank St, from 5.30pm.

Saturday features eight stages of competitive action on the fast South Canterbury gravel roads, with a four-lap finale around Levels Raceway from around 3.15pm.

Spectators can catch a glimpse of the crews at the two Fairlie Showgrounds-based service parks. The first car is due around 10.30am for service one. The second service will see cars arriving from around 1.24pm.

Emma Gilmour thanks the following sponsors for their support: Vantage Windows & Doors, Gilmour Motors Suzuki, Dura-Seal, Dayle ITM, MITO, Suzuki New Zealand, Castrol NZ, Sparco, Allport Motorsports, Custom Signs, NGK, Webdesign, Pure Sports Nutrition and Body Synergy Gym.

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