Gilmour has an eventful build-up to the Daybreaker Rally

There is never a dull moment in Emma Gilmour’s schedule and her build-up to the Daybreaker Rally this weekend is no exception.

The Dunedin rally driver contested the McLellan Freight Catlins Rallysprint over the weekend of August 24 and 25 and Emma summarises how the first day of the two-day event went from speedy to stuck.

“It was a great day, until it wasn’t. It was an awesome bit of road and we were making good set-up changes in preparation for the next NZRC round, and clocked the fastest time. On the last run, we got caught out on some loose gravel on the road edge and ended up rolling off the side,” she says.

Her mechanic Ollie from Paddon Rallysport duct-taped the Vantage Windows & Doors WRC2 C3 rally car and she went out the following day and won the weekend.

“We had a really good outing winning the fastest time both days but unfortunately created a lot of unnecessary work before the Daybreaker Rally this weekend. I was so impressed with how quickly the team at Paddon Rallysport fixed the damage in what was a very quick turn-around before the C3 needed to head up north.

“I was happy with how I felt in the car, making further set up changes to suit my driving style,” Emma says.

It will be her first time driving in the Daybreaker Rally in about a decade. She is teaming up for the event with long-time Kiwi friend and international co-driver Malcolm Read, whose services she has secured for the rest of the season.

Malcolm is currently based in the United Kingdom working for M-Sport as a mechanic and travelling with the World Rally Championship. Fortunately, his schedule allows him to fit in the final three New Zealand Rally Championship rounds between WRC events. He has returned to New Zealand this week and goes straight into testing and event recce with Emma.

“I’m looking forward to having Malcolm on-board for the Daybreaker Rally. After many years competing against each other, it will be great to finally compete together. The roads for this weekend look amazing and I can’t wait to drive them,” Emma says.

The Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship’s fourth round features all the title hopefuls. Robbie Stokes is the current leader with Ben Hunt just one point behind. Opening round winner Jack Hawkeswood is in third and Hayden Paddon sits in fourth, having missed the season opener due to contesting the European Rally Championship (ERC). Emma is only one point behind him in fifth place.

Originally held in 1983, the Daybreaker Rally became one of New Zealand’s most iconic gravel-based competition rally events, and regularly ran as a national rally championship round. Although the event has not run at times over the past 40 years, it had a successful revival in 2023 and this year will traverse the Manawatū and Rangitīkei regions’ scenic roads.

The 192km event begins on Friday afternoon at Palmerston North’s The Square with a ‘meet the crews’ session and car show from 4pm. The cars will then convoy to the Manfeild Arena at 5:30pm for a head-to-head Harcourts AFC Super Special Stage beginning at 6pm.

The rally begins at 4am on Saturday morning, with the first car departing the overnight park for a day of gravel road action. The route winds through Rangitīkei’s Turakina Valley and towards the switchback hairpin of Ridge Road North near Mataroa, north of Taihape. A second service of the day will be held in Taihape before the teams journey south across the famed Peep-o-Day and McBeth roads.

A second ‘meet the drivers’ session and car show will take place in Feilding’s town centre just before midday on Saturday, followed by a 30-minute service break in the Manfeild Arena carpark. Then the teams repeat the Peep-o-Day and McBeth sections before tackling the 30.97km Ridge Road stage, concluding at Pohangina.

The remaining cars will return to Palmerston North’s arena where a demonstration event will precede a reversed field run of the Super Special Stage. The final run will determine the overall winner with the finishers parked on the arena infield for the concluding ceremonial finish.