Emma Gilmour

Emma Gilmour with the Suzuki Swift

Emma is a driver and co-driver from New Zealand. For quite some time, she has been the top female rally driver in her country, and has competed around the world. In 2014, she branched out into rallycross.

Her earliest forays into rallying were in the co-driver’s seat. In 1999 and 2000, she navigated for her cousin, Gwynn Gilmour, in the Rally of New Zealand. Her sister, Monica, was a rally driver too, and Emma read the maps for her on occasion. From the very start, Emma’s rally career was international in nature; in 2002, she partnered Alistair Cavenagh in the Canberra Rally, in Australia.

2002 was the year that she got behind the wheel herself. Her first rally car was a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3, bought from Gwynn. Her first rally was the Targa Bambina tarmac rally, and she started her career off well, with sixth overall, and first in the four wheel drive class. Her first gravel stage rally was the Rally of Rotorua, and she was on the pace against established APRC drivers, finishing 16^th overall. Almost unbelievably, her first season as a driver included a run in the Rally of New Zealand, which she did not finish, and an overseas trip. She did not manage to finish the Japanese Alpine Rally either, although she set some decent stage times before retiring. 

Emma’s first year as a fully-fledged rally driver saw her push herself so far, it would have been difficult to keep up such momentum. Her return to the Rotorua Rally ended when her Lancer lost a wheel, and another accident dropped her out of the Rally of New Zealand.

In 2004, she contested the New Zealand Rally Championship, driving a Lancer Evo VI this time. Despite a couple of disappointing retirements, it was another year of progress. She scored her first top-ten finish in the Rally of Otago, coming ninth, and then surpassed it in the Rally of Nelson, finishing sixth. For a change, she entered the Targa New Zealand in a works Suzuki Ignis, and won the small car class. She was 30^th overall, and set one twelfth fastest stage time, against cars with much bigger engines.

Her competition schedule in 2005 was squarely based in New Zealand, revolving around the NZ championship in a Lancer Evo VI. During this season, she travelled to Europe, to become a student of the legendary John Haugland, at his Rally School in Norway. She did not actually compete. At home, she managed her first Rally of New Zealand finish, in 26^th place. She was the second New Zealand finisher. In June, she did not finish in Rotorua, normally her best event, but she did score her first podium place; a third in the Rally of Otago. She was second in the NZ championship, after a sixth place in a heat for the Wairapa Rally. Away from the championship, she was fifth overall in the Targa New Zealand, despite a heavy penalty for an illegal tyre change, and ninth overall, with a class win, in the Race to the Sky hillclimb.

For 2006, she looked toward Europe. Using money from a private sponsor, she secured a wildcard entry into the Ford Fiesta Shootout, in the UK. She was the winner of the International Scholarship award, and received entries into the Rallies of Germany and Finland, as part of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy. She was 50^th in the Rally Deutschland, seventh in class, and although she was only 65^th in Finland, with a class sixth, she secured some class stage wins. Later in the year, she picked up more funding for her Fiesta campaign, and entered the Wales Rally GB, but did not finish. She was thirteenth in the Fiesta Sporting Trophy.

Back at home, she switched from Mitsubishi to Subaru power, and performed well in the Rally of New Zealand, posting top-three Production WRC stage times, and finishing 24^th. Rotorua was once more a lucky event for her, and she was ninth. A third overall in the Targa New Zealand was another podium finish for her collection, and she was second in her class at the Race to the Sky. At the end of the year, she was awarded the Rally Founders’ Trophy by the New Zealand motorsport association, for achievements and sportsmanship.

She had a stellar start to 2007, coming second in the Otago Rally in the Impreza, her best result so far. At the Whangerei Rally, the second round of the NZ championship, she was on course to repeat this, having won some stages, but a major crash ended her involvement, and destroyed her car. She did not compete for several months, until winning another scholarship drive for September’s Rally New Zealand, in an Impreza WRX. Her final position was 33^rd, 13^th in the PWRC. This drive led to an offer from Subaru Japan to compete in the Rally of Japan, a WRC round, in a similar Impreza. She did not finish, retiring at the beginning of the last day.

2008 was a comparatively quiet year. Emma had her own Subaru back on the road, and entered the NZ championship. Her best result was a third place, in the Nelson Rally. Another run in the Rally of New Zealand gave her a 16^th place. Away from the main championship, she was fourth in the Targa.

After this rather subdued season, she spread her wings again in 2009, entering the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, in the Impreza. Her first event was the Red Devil Rally in Queensland, Australia, and she was fourth overall. She was fifth in the Whangerei Rally, third APRC finisher, and fourth in Japan. The Malaysian round gave her her best finish, second, in the jungle, and she was third and sixth in Indonesia and China. Her consistency was rewarded by second in the APRC championship. Despite her international schedule, she still had time for the NZ championship, and her string of top-five finishes, including another second, was enough for third overall.

Although 2010 was more domestic in nature for Emma, it was successful. She did everything apart from win in the NZ championship, scoring two seconds and two thirds, and was the fourth NZRC finisher in the Rally of New Zealand (17^th overall). On the WRC front, she was second in the PWRC in New Zealand, and twelfth overall. This, and her runner-up spot in the NZRC, helped her to become the highest-placed female driver in the Castrol rankings for the year.

The following season, she stayed close to home again, and had another good year in the NZ Championship. Her best finishes were two third places, at Hawkes Bay and in the Rally of New Zealand, which was unfortunately no longer a WRC rally. She retained her runner-up spot in the championship.

In 2012, she was runner-up in the NZ championship yet again, after a second in the Rally of Wairarapa, a third in the Otago Rally and sixth at Whangarei. She was fourteenth in the Rally of New Zealand itself. Only the Gisborne Rally was a disappointment, ending in suspension failure.

2013 was spent developing the Suzuki Swift Maxi in New Zealand. In the one rally where the car made it to the end, Emma was eleventh: the Rally Wairarapa. The Swift had suffered repeated engine problems all season, which were only fixed right at the end.

The situation was similar in 2014, although it was the Whangarei Rally, the first of the season, rather than the last, that she finished this time. She was in 21st place.

She also took part in rallycross, racing in the Red Bull Global Series, in a Hyundai Veloster Turbo, alongside Rhys Millen. The team was also run by Rhys Millen, another New Zealander. Emma was driving in the Supercar class, and competed in the USA and Barbados. Her best finish was seventh, achieved at Austin, Texas. She was thirteenth in the championship.

In 2015, Emma rallied again, driving the Suzuki Swift in the NZ championship, after warming up for the season with a rallysprint in March. Mechanical problems again dumped her out of the Whangerei and Otago Rallies, but she was on the pace again at Canterbury, finishing fourth. She was then fifth at Gisborne, a disappointing 35th in the Coromandel Rally, and a strong third in the Rally Manawatu. This left her fifth in the New Zealand championship.

Setting her sights internationally once more, Emma travelled to Qatar to take part in the FIA Women In Motorsport Desert Challenge. This was an assessment and shoot-out, with a prize of a funded drive in the 2016 Sealine Desert Challenge rally raid. With navigator Lisette Bakker, she was the outright winner of the challenge, and will take up her prize-drive. 

Back the the familiar territory of the NZ Championship, she made history in 2016 by becoming the first female driver to win a rally outright. She won the Rally of Canterbury in June, in the Suzuki Swift. This followed a second place in the Rally of Whangarei. Although the Otago and Gisborne rallies ended in mechanical failures for her, she was still sixth in the NZ championship.

Her 2017 season in the Swift started frustratingly, with three retirements, but Emma got back on track later in the year. She was ninth in the Gold Rush Rally of Coromandel, then fifth in the Waitamo Rally. She was ninth in class in Rally New Zealand and 16th overall.

By 2018 she had really got the hang of the Swift and the results started to come. She was fourth in the Whangarei and South Canterbury rallies and second in the Whare Flat Rallysprint.

Emma admitted on social media that 2019 was not a good year for her. The latest AP4 iteration of the Swift was unreliable in the early part of the season and overheated during the Rally of Whangerei. She did manage to finish the Coromandel Rally later in the year, in 24th place. The highlight for her was a win in the Supercharge Batteries Circle Hill Rallysprint, out of 47 finishers.

Despite the reduction in motorsport generally due to the coronavirus crisis, Emma got back on track in 2020. She used two versions of the Swift and was competitive in both. The AP4 had been worked on over the off-season and it took its driver to second place in the Tokomaru East Rallysprint. Later in the season she brought it out again for the City of Auckland Rally, finishing fourth. In between, she drove a Maxi 1600 Swift and was third in the Bay of Plenty Rally, before coming second in another rallysprint at Piakonui Road.

The firrst half of 2021 was almost business as usual for Emma, who entered the New Zealand championship in the Swift again. She suffered a series of mechanical problems that dumped her out of rallies, but she did do well in sprint events, including a fourth place in the Bothwell Loop. 

Mid-year, she was announced as the Veloce team's female reserve driver in Extreme E, the electric off-road championship. It wasn't long before she was called into action, as Veloce's regular female driver Jamie Chadwick had prior commitments with W Series. Emma entered the Glacier XPrix in Greenland with Stephane Sarrazin, finishing sixth in the final. She was poised to score better in the Sardinian Island XPrix, having been third in the first qualifying runs, but Stephane had a serious off in the second and they were relegated to the Crazy Race. Emma tried a daring line at the beginning and almost caught Christine Giampaoli Zonca, but Stephane crashed out again, destroying the car.

On the back of her two debut performances, she was signed for the McLaren team who will enter the championship in 2022. This made her the first female McLaren works driver.

As she had been in Europe for Extreme E and coronavirus restrictions were increased again, she was unable to return to New Zealand until a quarantine spot was available. She spent months in the UK and even entered a round of the British Rally Championship. Her car was a Ford Fiesta and she was twelfth in the Cambrian Rally, alongside Claire Mole, who had last co-driven for her in 2013. 

Her first full Extreme E season was a challenge. Sharing the car with Tanner Foust, Emma had her share of offs and rolls and the McLaren team often struggled with qualifying. After a Crazy Race win in Chile, they finally put together a strong run through the weekend and finished second overall. Emma and Tanner were joint seventh in the championship. 

This year, she was able to return home and enter some New Zealand rallies. Driving the Swift, she and Malcolm Peden were second in the Bothwell Loop rallysprint and fifth in the Otago Rally.

She only did one New Zealand rally in 2023 as most of her time was taken up by Extreme E. She was fifth in the Rally of Otago, driving a Citroen C3 Rally2. 

Her Extreme E season with McLaren, still competing with Tanner Foust, was just getting underway, with a promising second place in Scotland, when a huge practice crash in Sardinia ended her chances. She suffered a broken rib and concussion and had to sit the rest of the season out. At the end of the year, she announced that she was leaving McLaren. Foust also left.

Having recovered from her injuries, she planned a season in the NZ rally championship in 2024, which ended in a third place in the NZ championship standings. Her best championship rally finish was third, in the Rally Bay of Plenty. Away from the championship, she was second in the Popotunoa Rallysprint. Her car was a Citroen C3.

(Image from https://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com)              

Louise Cook

Louise in 2012

Louise Cook was the 2011 British Ladies’ Rally Champion, driving a Ford Fiesta.

Although her father worked in the automotive industry on the design side, there is not history of motorsport in Louise’s family. She did inherit her father’s interest in cars, and studied automotive design at Coventry University.

Her start in rallying came from a “Find a Lady Rally Driver” contest in 2006, when she was 19 and an undergraduate. She was second in the challenge, out of 1000 potential drivers. It was a while before she could afford to compete, and her father, despite his background, did not really like the idea of his daughter as a rally driver.

Her first rally was the Rockingham Stages, at the end of 2006. She drove a Peugeot 205 with Stefan Davis, and was 51^st overall. She had put together the money needed to enter by selling small spaces on her car for sponsorship, some of which was provided by her fellow students for a few pounds a square.

After that, she was absent from the competition scene for some time, owing to a lack of major sponsors. She also had to contend with the death of her father, Robert, in 2008.

She made her proper start in competitive rallying in 2010, taking part in the Challenge section of the British Rally Championship. Her car was a Ford Fiesta, and she was partnered again by Stefan Davis. In order to fund her season, Louise revived her idea of selling little advertising squares on her car, this time promoting them to local businesses. She also held raffles for potential sponsors at rallies themselves. This seemed to pay off; she drove in rallies around the UK, and after a slow start, with twelfth in the Pirelli Rally, 16^th in the Jim Clark Rally and a retirement from the first Isle of Man Challenge Rally, she really got going. She was fourth in the second part of the Isle of Man event, then fourth again in the first part of the Ulster Rally, and sixth in the second part. Both of the Ulster rounds gave her class wins, which was enough to secure the RC4 class for her.

Having more than held her own in the Challenge, she graduated to the British Rally Championship in 2011, tackling five rounds of the series in the Fiesta. She was second in the Fiesta Sport Trophy, out of thirteen drivers, 26th overall and tenth in the Formula Two championship. Her best overall result was fifteenth, in the Trackrod Rally, her last event of the season. She finished in the top twenty in all five rallies.

In 2012, she entered the Production World Rally Championship in the Fiesta, eager to push her career as far as she could. She contested the Monte Carlo, Acropolis, New Zealand, German and Italian rallies. As her budget was very tightly planned, extra expenses threatened her campaign by Rally New Zealand. To be eligible for FIA WRC awards, drivers must enter at least one non-European round, so it was important that Louise managed to get to New Zealand. One of the ways she raised money was auctioning off her trophies from previous years. This paid off, and she not only started, but finished a non-European round. This was despite only just fighting off an illness in time.

Her best result was 27th, in New Zealand, from an overall point of view, but she was also very impressive in Monte Carlo, despite problems with spectators and a broken intercom on the first day. She won Stage 15 in the PWRC class, and was second in the PWRC class overall, although she was only 54^th in the final leaderboard. There was a high rate of attrition in this rally, partly due to changing weather conditions. She was sixth PWRC finisher in the Acropolis and New Zealand rallies, and tenth in the Rally of Italy, and was eighth in the PWRC at the end of the year. The Rally of Germany ended in retirement.

At the end of the year, Louise was awarded a trophy for the best two-wheel-drive entry in the WRC. This was the first time a female driver had won an official FIA rally trophy, other than the Ladies’ Cup, outright.

She did not compete then for a while, due to funding problems, but aimed to return. Pictures on Twitter showed a newly re-liveried Fiesta, and it appeared that Louise would be back on the stages soon. In the interim, she did some media work. The most high-profile job she did was to act as driving coach to actor Idris Elba, for his “King of Speed” programme. This meant that she got to drive a works Mini WRC with Idris and Paddy Hopkirk, becoming one of only a handful of drivers to gain WRC experience.

In 2016, she made a surprise one-off return to the WRC, driving a Fiesta in the Rally Finland. She was 53rd overall, and eleventh in class. At the end of the year, she announced she was auctioning her WRC 2WD trophy, in a last-ditch effort to salvage her WRC3 campaign for 2017.

She did make one WRC appearance in 2017, at Rally Sweden. Sadly, she had to drop out after the second day, due to car problems.

In 2018, she put together a deal to run in WRC3, competing in five WRC rallies. She used a Peugeot 208 R2 for the Sardinia Rally, her first event, and was 26th overall. For subsequent rallies she drove a Ford Fiesta. She picked up a best WRC3 finish of third at Catalunya and Germany and won a stage of the Rally GB. Her other rally was Turkey, where she was 30th overall but only ninth in WRC3.

She entered Wales Rally GB in 2019, driving the Fiesta. This was her only major event of the year. She and Stefan Davis were 47th overall, 15th in class.

At the end of 2019 the Fiesta was put up for sale. Louise's plans are unclear.

(Image from www.sunrisesoftware.com)

Ramona Karlsson

Ramona and Miriam (left) after their Uppsala win

Ramona is Sweden’s most successful modern female driver, emulating and surpassing the triumphs of Ewy Rosqvist in the 1960s.

She was interested in motorsport from a very early age, and competed in motocross, kart-cross and rallycross as a junior driver. She won championships in both junior rallycross, and kart-cross, before commencing her rally career in 2001. In addition to her motorsport activities, she was also a junior champion in pistol shooting in Sweden.

She was fairly young when she started stage rallying seriously, 23 years old, and her first rallies were completed in a Saab 900, as were those of many Swedish drivers of the last twenty years or so. In 2004, she was 60th in the Kullingstrofén with Henrik Darius.

The Saab was exchanged for a newer Volkswagen Golf in 2005, although it did not prove to be much faster. Her second attempt at the Kullingstrofén gave her 70th place this time. She retired from the Silverratten rally. An Audi 90 Quattro, a prophetic but not particularly well-suited rally car, also proved rather fragile, and she retired from the 2006 Kullingstrofén rally. A year on the sidelines followed.

By 2008, Ramona had managed to invest in a more powerful car, a Subaru Impreza. By now, she was running her own rally team. She was also supported by Subaru Sweden for some of her events, including the South Swedish Rally, in which she was 30th, and her first WRC event, Rally Sweden. She was 40th, and 29th in her class. In between these two events, she drove in the Kvarnturen Rally, and was a career-best tenth. This year, she also developed a partnership with Miriam Walfridsson, her new co-driver and a member of the Walfridsson rallying clan.

In 2009, she drove for Pelle Palmqvist’s team in a Mitusbishi Lancer Evo 5 and 9, competing in Group N. She won her class in at least one round of the KMK Trofen, in the Evo 5. Her only big rally of the year seems to have been the South Swedish Rally, from which she retired.

In 2010, she picked up sponsorship from Mattel's Barbie brand, and competed in the Swedish championship once more, as well as making a visit to the UK for the Trackrod Rally, and Norway for the Rally Sorland. Unfortunately, she did not finish either. Driving a Lancer Evo 9, her best result was fourth, in the Gastabudstrofen. Her next rally, the Kvarnturen rally, gave her a seventh place. Later, she was twelfth in the KMK Trofen.

The Lancer was upgraded to an Evo X model for 2011. Ramona was immediately on the pace, finishing fifth in the Vinterpokalen. After a retirement from the Rally Sweden SM round, she was also sixth on the snow, in the Fäviken Winter Rally. After another retirement from the South Swedish Rally, she scored her third top ten of the season, finishing tenth in the AM-Tryck Snapphanerally. Fourteenth in the East Swedish Rally followed, and then two trips abroad: the Rally of Poland and the Lausitz Rally in Germany. She finished the Polish event in 23rd, third in class.

Encouraged by her improving form and the sponsorship and exposure it brought,  she contested the Production WRC in 2012, driving a Mitsubishi Evo X, run by her own team. She managed four rounds: Mexico, Argentina, New Zealand and Germany. She started quite well, with 18th place in Mexico (sixth in the PWRC standings), but did not finish in Argentina, due to car trouble. In New Zealand, she became the first female driver to record a PWRC stage win, and was running in a consistent 18th/19th place, but her car caught fire, forcing her and Miriam to evacuate it and run away during stage 15. Neither was hurt. They had a functional car again for Germany, but went out on the second stage with a mechanical problem.

In 2013, she acquired a Skoda Fabia WRC car, which, after she got used to it, was used to great effect in Swedish rallies. Her first two events, the Tractive Rallysprint and the Vinterpokalen, were distinctly underwhelming in terms of results, but by the time the Östersund Winter Rally came around, Ramona had got to grips with the Fabia, and was ninth overall. Over the season, she just kept getting better, finishing sixth in the South Swedish Rally, fifth in the Snapphanerallyt and third in the East Sweden Rally. Her season culminated in her first win, in the Uppsala Rally. She was runner-up in the Swedish championship.

For 2014, Ramona decided to move away from rallying, despite her success in 2013. She raced in the World Rallycross Championship, as its first female driver. As a way to raise funds for this, she offered her services as a taxi driver to Swedish marketing people in December 2013.

Her first year as a rallycross driver was hard-going, going straight into the Supercar class, and competing against former WRC stars, such as Petter Soblerg, and experienced rallycross professionals. She used both a Saab 9-3 and a Peugeot 208. She was only 39th in the championship, scoring some points at the Montalegre round. She did not enter all of the races, and had a mid-season gap where she switched teams.

In 2015, she continued in rallycross, and drove a Volkswagen Scirocco, run by her own RamonaRX team. This was the first time a female-run team had entered the World Rallycross Championship, although she only got to enter one round, in Sweden. She spent most of the season in the European Supercar series, where she was 23rd overall, with a best finish of fourteenth, in Germany.

She sat out the 2016 competition season, due to pregnancy, but remained involved in motorsport as the Marketing Director for the World Rallycross Championship.

In 2017, she returned to rallycross, and earned several top-ten finishes in the Nordic RallyX championship. Her car was a Volkswagen.

She sat out 2018 due to pregnancy.

She is a member of the FIA's Women In Motorsport Commission.

 (Image from www.uppsalabilder.se)