KEY POINTS:
Emma Gilmour is nursing a sore head and bruises but is more concerned about the condition of her Subaru Impreza WRX after crashing heavily on Sunday's second leg of the Whangarei Rally.
The Dunedin-based driver had just won her first special stage of the rally and was only 13 seconds off the lead when disaster struck near the end of the 21.3km Waipu Caves stage.
"It is a very fast piece of road and we went off on fifth gear, ending a long way off the road in a paddock," Gilmour said. "My side of the car took most of the impact, which was so heavy that it broke my seat and cracked my helmet."
Reigning national champion Richard Mason stopped to help. Gilmour was taken to Whangarei Hospital as a precautionary measure while co-driver Glenn Macneall stayed with the car.
The crash was Gilmour's second in as many days in the Whangarei event. On Saturday's opening leg she was forced out on the seventh special stage after clipping a bridge and damaging the suspension. "We also had a spin on the first stage, but we had worked our way back to sixth overall before hitting the bridge," she said. Having failed to score national championship points at Whangarei, Gilmour has slipped from third to sixth in the series standings. The championship also has a new leader. South Canterbury's Hayden Paddon scored a sensational upset win in the event over defending Asia-Pacific and former Australian champion Cody Crocker.
The national championship continues in Wairarapa at Queen's Birthday weekend on June 4 with the third of six rounds. But Gilmour is not sure if she will be at the Wairarapa rally because of the damage to her car.
"We had intended leaving the car in the North Island but now it is coming home to Dunedin. We will assess things fully once we are home."
Results:
* Whangarei Rally, National Championship heat one: H. Paddon, J. Kennard (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo), 1; S. Murray, R. Ryan (Subaru Impreza WRX) 2; D. Turner, S. Bansal (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 3; N. Thomas, R. Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 4; S. Taylor, W. Searle (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 5.
* Whangarei Rally, National Championship heat two: D. Sumner, P. Fallon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 1; Paddon, Kennard 2; Murray, Ryan 3; Taylor, Searle 4; C. McInnes, L. Loughlin (Subaru Impreza WRX), 5.
* International Rally of Whangarei overall: Paddon, Kennard 1; C. Crocker, B. Atkinson (Australia, Subaru Impreza WRX) 2; Murray, Ryan, 3; H. Yanagisawa, T Misaizu (Japan, Subaru Impreza WRX) 4; Taylor, Searle 5.
* National Championship points (after two rounds): Paddon, 102, 1; Murray, 88, 2; R. Mason, S. Randall (Subaru Impreza WRX) 79, 3; Taylor, 61, 4; Turner, 57, 5; E. Gilmour, G. Macneall (Subaru Impreza WRX) 56, 6.
