Podium for Gilmour at Bay of Plenty Rally

In what has been a triumphant fortnight for Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour, she finished second in the New Zealand Rally Championship (NZRC) at the Bay of Plenty Rally this weekend and third overall.

The podium result comes soon after her class win at the Ashley Forest Rallysprint a fortnight ago.

“It was such a satisfying feeling to finish on the podium yesterday and to be back near the front of the NZRC field. I had a great day with Malcolm [Read] co-driving and it was a really rewarding result for all the hard work we’ve been putting in over the last few events in my Vantage Windows & Doors WRC2 C3 rally car.”

“I credit our strong performance to the amount of seat time I’ve had over the last six weeks, including winning the two-day Catlins Rallysprint in August. Then we had the Daybreaker Rally, Ashley Forest Rallysprint and yesterday’s Bay of Plenty Rally in quick succession, which has really helped my driving development.”

Emma and Malcolm started out steadily in the Brian Green Property Group NZRC’s penultimate round on the Bay of Plenty roads and kept up good speed through the first three of 12 stages. It was in stage four that they moved into third place and they held the podium spot right through to the finish. Mike Young finished second behind rally winner Hayden Paddon but he is not registered for the NZRC, which means Emma was runner-up in the NZRC points.

“I was very happy to be on the national championship podium again. My maiden national win at the Rally of Canterbury in 2016 was the last time.”

Thank you to Hayden, Ollie and the Paddon Rallysport team for running the car like clockwork, and a big thank you to my sponsors for your amazing support,” Emma wraps up.

She and Malcolm will team up again for the final round of the NZRC, the International Rally of Whangarei on 8-10 November. Emma sits in fourth place – equal with Zeal Jones on 102 points and will be looking to secure a championship podium at this season-ending event.