Emma Gilmour’s recent frustrations have continued into the final round of the Vantage New Zealand Rally Championship in Nelson, with the Dunedin driver forced out by a gearbox problem early in the event.
Looking to finish the 2007 season on a positive note, Gilmour was starting to pick up her pace when her Subaru Impreza coasted to a halt 15 kilometres into the rally’s third stage.
“The car lost drive without warning when I was changing from second to third gear,” Gilmour said.
“For a moment I thought I had missed the change, but quickly realised the problem was more serious than that. It turned out to be a broken gearbox input shaft, which is a repeat of the problem we suffered at the Wairarapa Rally back in June.”
Gilmour had already survived a testing start to the Nelson event, with brake problems blunting her pace over the first two stages.
“The brakes kept locking up, which was no fun at all,” she said. “The crew did a change of brake pads and discs at the service break after those stages, and everything felt good as we headed into the third stage.
“Unfortunately, as has been the case more often than I would have liked in my last few events, no sooner was everything starting to gel than another, more serious problem, landed in my way.”
While Gilmour’s New Zealand Rally programme is now over for 2007, she is expecting to contest at least one major event overseas before the year is out.
“I’m not in a position to say too much other than ‘watch this space’ until we iron a couple more details out, but there will be an official announcement within the next couple of weeks,” she said.
“Now that this national season is over, I’m looking forward to re-grouping and coming back strong to give everyone a decent run for the title in 2008.”
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