Motorsport: NZ woman gets world rally champ drive

Emma Gilmour will take a major step towards fulfilling her dream of becoming a professional international rally driver when she contests the German and Finnish rounds of the world rally championship next month.

Currently third in the New Zealand championship, the Vantage Team Subaru driver is Europe-bound after winning an international scholarship for young drivers.

Initiated by a Scottish businessman who is also a keen rally driver, the Dream Drive Scholarship supports three drivers from around the world to gain international experience in rallying.

The scholarship would have initially enabled Gilmour to contest a couple of British championship events, or perhaps one world championship round, but the Dunedin-based driver did some quick talking to extend the term to two world championship events.

"The scholarship people were very supportive of changing the programme so long as I could find some extra support," she said.

"It has been quite a complicated package to put together because I needed to arrange both a rally car and a crew to prepare it and service it."

Gilmour said she would have loved to have been able to run her Possum Bourne Motorsport-prepared Subaru Impreza WRX STI in Europe but because she remained committed to the New Zealand championship, which has rounds in Hawke's Bay this month and Wairarapa next month, that would not be feasible.

Castrol has come to the rescue by providing a support package that includes the use of a rally car it has in Britain for the Fiesta Sporting Trophy series.

Gilmour said the factory world rally cars and even the Production Class four-wheel-drive cars at the head of the German and Finnish rallies would be in a different league performance-wise to the Fiesta ST she would drive.

But she believes that as one of seven drivers in near-identical cars in Germany, she would have a sound benchmark to gauge herself.

"Rallying is incredibly expensive in Europe, so really it was a choice between contesting one event in a Production Class car similar to my Subaru Impreza or stretch it to two events in a car like the Fiesta," she said.

"Contesting two events makes more sense in terms of gaining experience and allows me to develop a profile while I'm over there."

Having spent most of her career rallying on gravel in four-wheel-drive cars, Gilmour said she was not underestimating the adjustment required in Europe to drive a front-wheel-drive car on a tarmac event.

Nor is she underestimating the calibre of her Fiesta class rivals -- they will include Mathieu Biasion, a cousin of two-times world champion Miki Biasion, and Alessandro Bettaga, whose father was a factory rally driver for Lancia in the 1980s.

"These guys have been driving the cars all season and Bettaga is known for being very fast on tarmac.

"At least I have some experience competing in front-drive cars on tarmac, in the annual Targa New Zealand."

The German rally is from August 11-13 and the Finnish round two weeks later on gravel on what is regarded as the most famous yet most difficult event in the sport.

"It used to be called the Rally of the 1000 Lakes, but drivers know it as the rally of the 1000 jumps," Gilmour said.

The Finnish rally has been held for 55 years, and Finnish drivers have won 16 times in the last 20 years.

"I have driven a rally car in Europe, but that was at a rally driving school," she said.

With Gilmour's regular co-driver Chris Cobham unable to make the trip, she will team up with Scotsman John Bennie, who navigated for her during the Rotorua Rally last year.

- NZPA