Wet conditions at rally

Thanks to wet weather conditions, rally driver Emma Gilmour was caught out during the International Rally of Whangarei's first leg. Dunedin-based Gilmour and her co-driver Anthony McLoughlin were 25 seconds behind the rally leader, when disaster struck and their vehicle was caught out on water, which was running across the road of a fourth-gear corner. Gilmour hit a boulder and smashed the wheel. “We changed the tyre and tried to carry on but then discovered that the steering had been damaged on impact and it was just too dangerous to continue, so we had to park up on the stage,” Gilmour says. The drivers were up against 20 of the 45 starters who failed to make the finish yesterday. “It was terrible, with torrential rain leaving the stages absolutely soaked. Clay was coming through in patches, which made the conditions really changeable," she says. Although the Suzuki’s set-up had been tweaked in the crash, the team still charged on to three, top-five stage placings on the final three tests, finishing sixth for Leg Two. “We have had a pretty average run of luck lately but it was encouraging that the Suzuki ran so well all weekend. As always my team did a wonderful job and we now all turn our focus to Rally Canterbury over Queens Birthday weekend (June 4).”