Gilmour maps out rally campaign
Emma Gilmour has announced her plans for the rest of the 2025 rally season will start with her getting behind the wheel at the Ashley Forest Rallysprint over September 20-21.
The Dunedin driver has decided to skip the next round of the NZ Rally Championship (NZRC), the Gold Rush Rally of Coromandel in August, to return to the Canterbury event.
She competed in the 1.7km hillclimb, pictured, for the first time last year in her Vantage Windows and Doors Citroen C3 rally car and relished the challenge of breaking the one-minute barrier.
“I loved my debut at Ashley Forest and gave it everything to clock a 59.1sec time in the top-eight shootout,” says Gilmour.
“It was a last-minute decision to enter and I ended up fifth overall and won the Rally 4WD Class, which was a real bonus.”
Gilmour, who runs the Gilmour Motors Suzuki dealership, will then team up with Australian co-driver Ben Searcy for the fifth round of the NZRC in the Bay of Plenty on October 11.
The pair will hop across the ditch the next month to compete in the Rally of Tasmania, which is the final round of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC), from November 7-9.
They will be hopping out of the familiar C3 and leasing the Perth-based Maximum Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5 for that competition.
The Maximum Motorsport team has taken Subaru Australia’s Dean Herridge to three Australian Privateer Championships and an outright Australian Championship win, and also currently runs Australian rally driver Scott Pedder in the latest Skoda Fabia RS.
“I feel fortunate to have an on-the-ground knowledgeable team supplying my rally car for this event,” adds Gilmour.
“Combined with Ben’s experience rallying in Australia, it will give me a leg up rallying in Tasmania for the first time.
“I’m so excited to have such a cool variety of events to round off the 2025 season. Rally Tasmania will be a real highlight – competing against some of Australia’s best drivers and experiencing the Tasmanian stages for the first time.
“It’s a shame to miss the final NZRC round in Whangarei, but the chance to jump into a competitive car with a great team and return to the ARC was too good to pass up.”
Herridge says Maximum Motorsport is thrilled to have Gilmour join the team for the final round of the championship.
“Emma is a quality driver with a heap of experience, so we’re excited to see how she enjoys the Skoda and the Tassie roads,” he adds.
“It’s fantastic to see her back in the ARC and she’ll no doubt be a fan favourite and is a great addition to the field.”
