Top five finish for Gilmour at Daybreaker Rally

Competing in slippery, tricky conditions Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour and co-driver Malcolm Read claimed a top five finish at the Daybreaker Rally yesterday.

The new pairing was making their debut together in the Vantage Windows & Doors WRC2 C3 and after the introductory stage at Manfeild Arena on Friday night, they set the third fastest stage times on Saturday’s second and third early morning stages.

Kiwi international Malcolm returned from his M-Sport mechanic duties to co-drive for Emma and thanked her for the opportunity to get out on New Zealand’s famed rally roads again.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the dark stages, they were worth getting up at three in the morning for! I look forward to coming back for the next two events,” he says.

Emma says she made “good progress” at the Daybreaker event, which was held on the Manawatū and Rangitīkei regions’ gravel roads.

“We had a really good day and started out stronger in the morning before the conditions deteriorated in the afternoon. It worked well with Malcolm co-driving and I enjoyed changes I’ve made to the C3.”

Emma set three, fourth-fastest stage times in a row and in the final three stages, she was fifth-fastest. Fifth was her final finishing position and also where she sits in the Brian Green Property Group New Zealand Rally Championship with two rounds left on the calendar.

“I struggled a little bit to find the rhythm in the afternoon when the stages cut up and got wet and slippery. Overall, it was a positive day,” Emma says.

She doesn’t have to wait until the October 5 Bay of Plenty Rally to compete again, as Paddon Rallysport, which runs her C3, will transport her rally car down to the Ashley Forest Rally Sprint near Christchurch.

“Hayden [Paddon] is competing at Ashley Forest this coming weekend and had room in his truck for the C3, so I will drive it there as a publicity exercise. It will be my first time doing this iconic South Island event and I’m really looking forward to it,” Emma says.

Then a fortnight later, she will team up with Malcolm again to contest the NZRC’s penultimate round.

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.