Gilmour excited to make her debut on Rally Tasmania roads

Kiwi rally driver Emma Gilmour has a couple of firsts coming up this weekend when she heads over to Australia to contest the Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania.

Not only is it her first time competing on the famed Tasmanian roads but she will be swapping out her usual domestic charger – Vantage Windows & Doors Citroen C3 – for a debut behind the wheel of Perth-based Maximum Motorsport’s Skoda Fabia R5.

“I’m really looking forward to finishing the rally season doing something new and driving a Skoda for the first time,” Emma says.

Amongst adjusting to all the new elements this weekend, she will be able to rely on the familiarity of Australian co-driver Ben Searcy, who has sat alongside her in the 2025 Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship.

“It will be great having a ‘local’ calling my pace notes in Tasmania and I’m keen for us to have a good, strong, clean run. Having never driven a Skoda before, my goals are to have some fun experiencing the incredible gravel roads around Burnie, Tasmania and staying consistent to finish at the pointy end of the field,” Emma says.

She is relishing the challenge of tackling some of the monster stages like Sunday’s 43.4km special stage 10 Mawbanna, which the field of 25 teams will then repeat as special stage 13.

The Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania is the Australian Rally Championship’s (ARC) season finale and will see the 2025 title fight reach its climax as New Zealand superstars Hayden Paddon and John Kennard look to secure a maiden ARC title aboard their Hyundai i20N Rally2.

The Paddon Rallysport team look after Emma’s car in New Zealand, and she wishes her fellow Kiwis, Hayden and John, all the best this weekend.

Buckby Motors Rally Tasmania Clerk of Course Matt von Bourtouch says: “It’s really exciting to see another quality ARC field heading down to Tasmania.

“The list of drivers and teams is really good. It all comes down to this round for the final round of the championship which is great for us and great for the sport.

“There’s a mix of strong Australian and New Zealand entries and shows real depth in the quality of the competitors that we have in this part of the world.

“It’s going to be a great little event and, of course, I’m a bit biased but Tassie has the best rally roads in Australia, so we’re ready to go.”

* Follow the Bucky Motors Rally Tasmania here on Saturday November 8 and Sunday November 9.

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 and Pure Sports Nutrition.