Emma Gilmour is a friendly, soft-spoken blonde who owns a car dealership in New Zealand and drives little rally cars on the weekends.
But don’t be deceived. The lady is ranked as the best female rally driver in the world and is the first woman to drive in the
Which means she can take you to 120 miles per hour in a parking lot. Without even really trying.
“Well, the car was cold and the course was new, so I was cruising a bit,” Gilmour said last week. We had just climbed out of the Hyundai Veloster Turbo she races. “I was probably giving it 70 percent.”
Impressive, considering we caught air off the dirt jump union workers had spent hours building earlier that day. The track she demolished was basically a parking lot tarmac reinforced with tire walls, metal barriers, and a 70-foot jump in the middle of everything. The scream of the Veloster engine was deafening, and the fire-retardant body suits with long gloves, balaclava and helmet didn’t exactly aerate the considerable heat coming off the engine.
She didn’t seem to mind. In fact the longer she spent pulling levers and spinning tires to maneuver that tiny contraption of hers the more she seemed to relax. By the end of the day her porcelain cheeks were flushed pink with heat and sun; her suit was covered in grease and sweat.
Thing is, Gilmour is one of the top drivers in New Zealand, having placed 14th in the World Rally Championship in 2012 and regularly ranking high in national competitions, but she is still a rookie in this series. Tanner Foust, the famous stunt driver and Top Gear host, ended up winning the New York Red Bull Global Rallycross for the Volkswagen Andretti team, while skateboarding/snowboarding superstar Ken Block, who co-founded DC Shoes, took third for Hoonigan Racing. Pro skateboarder and crowd favorite Bucky Lasek had to bow out altogether after his car took a beating during a particularly aggressive scrum.
As for Gilmour, give it some time. In a year or two she may well get up to the winner’s podium as well. In fact, she’s planning on it. Click on the video above to see more.
Follow me on
Follow me on Facebook: Hannah Elliott
Follow me on Instagram: @HannahElliottxo
