Consistency is at the forefront of Dunedin rally driver Emma Gilmour’s 2025 Brian Green New Zealand Property Championship game plan and she has signed up Australian co-driver Ben Searcy for her full six-round campaign.
Perth-based Ben brings a wealth of experience and is no stranger to sitting beside Emma in the Vantage Windows and Doors WRC2 C3 rally car.
They most recently paired up at the Southern Lights Rally last June and finished in fifth place but their working relationship goes back to 2019, when Ben navigated for Emma in her previous Suzuki rally car.
Emma says she is “very excited to have Ben commit to the full season with me. I really enjoyed working with him again at the Southern Lights Rally last year. He is an absolute professional and has a huge amount of experience. I know having that consistency for the whole year will be great.”
Ben claimed the 2023 Asia Pacific Rally Championship title as co-driver for Rifat Sungkar of Indonesia. Last year he competed with Maguire Motorsport in the Australian Rally Championship and also made his FIA World Rally Championship debut in a Rally2 car with Peter Rullo at the famous Rally Sweden.
Ben says: “I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car with Emma. I’ve always really enjoyed competing with her and I can’t wait to get back onto the New Zealand stages.”
Last year he competed in two different Rally2 cars following the New Zealand round with Emma in her C3.
“So, I did three weekends in a row in three different Rally2 cars and the Citroen was by far the best performing car. I’m really keen to see what the Citroen can do over the entire championship with Emma this year,” Ben says.
Following an impressive third place in the NZRC last year, Emma will continue working with her mechanic Ollie Talbott and the Paddon Rallysport team this year.
“They are such a talented team to work with and their experience and knowledge over the past couple of seasons has been awesome. The Paddon Rallysport team have been helping me with developments with the rally car over the off-season, so we will be ready to hit the ground running for Otago,” Emma says.
“This time last year I was still battling the recovery process following my Extreme E crash concussion, so I’m really looking forward to starting this season strong and continuing to build on the speed we found last year.”
Emma loves that her season begins with her home event, the Central Machine Hire Otago Rally on April 5 and 6. The new stages on Saturday around Middlemarch add a fresh take on one of her favourite rallies, which will also feature famous Otago stages, such as Waipori Gorge and Kuri Bush, on Sunday.
The route includes 280 kilometres over 15 special stages and with Cromwell’s Hayden Paddon electing to contest the rally in a classic car, that leaves the way clearer for Emma to achieve her goal of a home turf victory.
“It’s a long event and a fast event. The AP4 cars have the advantage on the flat-out stages but we will give it a good go,” she says.
Emma also has a championship title in her sights and is keen to move up the podium from her third place last season and top the several series runner-up finishes she has to her name.
“I still want to win the championship, but I don’t underestimate the challenge of that with the calibre of competition at the top end of the NZRC field. I’m looking for a consistent competitive season and we will see what transpires come the final round in November.”
Emma is grateful to welcome her main sponsors back again for 2025, including Vantage Windows and Doors, Dayle ITM, MITO, Dura-Seal, Castrol, Gilmour Motors Suzuki and Suzuki New Zealand.
After the Otago Rally, the action will then resume at the South Canterbury Rally on May 10, based in Timaru, before a return to the Canterbury Rally in Christchurch on June 1.
Following a mid-season break, teams will move to the North Island with another returning event, Rally Coromandel, to be held on August 23 from the seaside town of Whitianga. The series then moves to the Tauranga-based Rally Bay of Plenty on October 11, before the second, two-day round of the season, the International Rally of Whangarei, to round out the season on November 7-9.
Emma’s fans can come along to meet her at the Friday Night Motorshow and Ceremonial Start in Dunedin’s Octagon on April 4, which starts at 5.30pm. The first car will leave at 6.45pm.
Comments