Emma Bridget Gilmour (born 30 September 1979) is a

rally driver Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early and personal life

Gilmour was born in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 1979. Her father and maternal grandfather were both mechanics. Before taking up motor racing in her early 20s, she was an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

representing Otago–Southland in eventing and participating in the New Zealand development squads. Gilmour runs a

Suzuki is a Japanese multinational mobility manufacturer headquartered in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka. It manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a va ...

car dealership in Dunedin outside of racing.

Racing career

New Zealand Rally Championship

Gilmour is a three-time New Zealand Rally Championship runner-up

Global Rallycross Championship

Gilmour became the first woman to enter the

Global Rallycross Championship Global Rallycross (known as Red Bull Global Rallycross for sponsorship reasons) was a rallycross series operated by businessmen Colin Dyne in conjunction with Sponsor RedBull. The series ran for seven seasons, primarily in North America, from 201 ...

, competing under Rhys Millen Racing in a Hyundai Veloster Turbo for the 2014 season.

Extreme E

Veloce Racing (2021)

Gilmour was signed by

Veloce Racing Veloce Racing is a British motorsport team founded by Jean-Éric Vergne, Adrian Newey and Rupert Svendsen-Cook that will compete in the all-hydrogen off-road racing championship Extreme H. Veloce formerly competed in the all-female single-seate ...

as reserve driver for the inaugural season of the new electric off-road racing series in 2021,

Extreme E Extreme E was an FIA-sanctioned international off-road racing series that used spec silhouette electric SUVs to race in remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabian desert or the Arctic. All racing locations were chosen to raise awaren ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. She replaced regular driver

Jamie Chadwick Jamie Laura Chadwick (born 20 May 1998) is a British racing driver who competes for IDEC Sport Racing, IDEC Sport in the 2025 European Le Mans Series, and previously raced for Andretti Global in 2024 Indy NXT, Indy NXT. She won the inaugural 20 ...

in two events.

McLaren (2022–2023)

Gilmour moved to McLaren XE for the 2022 season, becoming the first female factory driver to race for McLaren. Partnering

Tanner Foust Tanner Lee Foust (born June 13, 1973) is an American professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack, hill climb and rallycross with multiple podium placements, national cham ...

, she achieved one podium finish at the season-ending Energy X-Prix and became the first female podium winner for McLaren. Gilmour and Foust were retained for the 2023 season. McLaren won its second podium by finishing second in Round 4 at the Hydro X-Prix. In Round 7 at the Island X-Prix II, Gilmour suffered a fractured rib and a concussion following a crash during the first free practice session and was ruled out for the rest of the weekend. She was replaced by championship reserve driver Tamara Molinaro for Rounds 7 and 8. For the final two rounds of the season, McLaren announced that Gilmour was still recovering from her injuries and was replaced by

JBXE JBXE is an Extreme E racing team. The team was founded by the 2009 Formula One World Champion, Jenson Button, and takes part in the series that is highlighting the impacts of climate change. History In January 2021, it was announced that Jenson ...

's Hedda Hosås. At the end of the season, McLaren announced that Gilmour and Foust will leave the team after two seasons.

Racing record

Complete Global Rallycross Championship results

Complete Extreme E results

( key) ^* Season still in progress.

References

Notes

External links

Page on eWRC-results.com

Emma Gilmour website
Living people 1979 births New Zealand rally drivers Sportspeople from Dunedin World Rally Championship drivers Extreme E drivers McLaren Racing drivers New Zealand female racing drivers New Zealand female equestrians {{Rally-bio-stub