An extra team member enabled Emma Gilmour to achieve her best-ever heat race result in the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC) at the weekend.
Hyundai/Rhys Millen Racing's (RMR) inclusion of a spotter - who watches her lines, keeps an eye on the other traffic and tells her when to take the joker lap - helped the Dunedin driver to take third in the first day heat of the double-header round held at the waterfront course at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro.
''I have a new spotter, Steph Verdier, this weekend and he is a driver coach as well.
"It made a huge difference. He has raced in the GRC before and has driven my RMR Hyundai Veloster Turbo, so he was able to give me lots of really valuable driving tips and techniques,'' Gilmour said.
She was unable to convert the heat result into a place in the final due to the Veloster's clutch slipping, leaving her with no drive.
The DNF left her last on the grid for the semis and she ended up sixth on the tight 940m circuit.
In an eventful Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), she tangled with Subaru Rally Team USA's Bucky Lasek when he got tapped from behind.
After a restart, Gilmour was in her element, at least until her luck ran out.
''Another great start, pushing and barging up into fourth place as we go into turn four and then I got spun around and end up on the inside of the corner half across the track.''
Racing on Monday (NZ time) for the second consecutive day, Gilmour went 0.6sec faster in qualifying than her best time the day before.
However, she described the semifinal as ''a bit rough''.
''I started on last row so it was tricky to get past anyone.
"I was right on the tail of [Olsbergs MSE's Patrik] Sandell but he moved over in the high-speed section and we touched, which spun me. I kept going and finished fifth.''
Although she stayed with the front-runners in the LCQ, Gilmour was disappointed not to have made the final.
''We had a mysterious misfire today, which didn't help, but sometimes you just need a little bit of luck to get through these races.
"It was great to have two races in a weekend to double-up my improvements and to have so much support from the crowd in LA was fantastic.''
Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross' Scott Speed won his third race of the GRC season on the first day and Gilmour's team owner, Rhys Millen, became the second multiple Supercar class winner on the second day.
The teams will race the penultimate round in Seattle this weekend.
The sole female competing, Gilmour was determined to show her speed in the remaining two rounds of the 10-round series and secure a return drive for 2015.
