Emma Gilmour knows this could be the moment. For two decades she’s chased a home win in Dunedin and with Hayden Paddon competing on another continent, there’s an Otago Rally win to be had.
The Hyundai New Zealand star, who’s in Hungary to kick-start the defense of his European title, knows all about winning on the South Island gravel – he’s done it 10 times, including a famous 2015 win at the wheel of a Ford Escort RS1800. But not this time.
“Normally,” Gilmour told DirtFish, “we all know Hayden is, unless something goes wrong, he’s always the one to beat. It does make it a lot more interesting this weekend, him not being here.”
While she’s still learning the Citroën C3 Rally2 she drove for the first time last year, a recent test helped her familiarity with the French car.
Gilmour and co-driver Katrina Renshaw were popular with home fans at ceremonial start
“This will be my second event in the car,” she said, “so I’m starting to feel a bit more comfortably with it. The car’s good, it’s amazing – I just need to learn to drive it. I think the approach this weekend is to be smart. It’s a long event, but, at the same time, you need to be quick out of the blocks and get that best foot forward.”
The former McLaren Racing driver is clear on what a win would mean on Sunday afternoon.
“Oh my God, it’s the event I want to win,” she said. “It’s my home town, it’s the rally I started rallying at, it’s where I fell in love with rallying, so absolutely it’s the one I want to win.
Friday evening’s ceremonial start, which as usual packed the center of Dunedin with fans, is the precursor to two days’ rallying across some of New Zealand’s finest gravel roads.
Sixteen stages and 170 miles of competition get underway on Saturday morning, with five-time world rally winner Kris Meeke and defending American champion Brandon Semenuk adding international and superstar flavor to a packed entry for the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally.
