Suzuki driver Emma Gilmour enjoyed the challenge of Rally Waitomo over the weekend more than most after a difficult New Zealand Rally Championship so far.
The Dunedin-based driver came home with a solid fifth-place finish on the long one-day event in the lower Waikato and King Country - her best result of a season plagued by frustrating problems.
The trouble-free run might have had her finish higher up but for the level of competition in the sport now.
"It was enjoyable," Gilmour told The Herald. "Those roads are just amazing down in that area and it is the first time we have rallied on them so it was a new challenge and it was amazing fun to be driving on them at speed.
"It was tough competition - they were long stages and you'd get to the end and think we'd done a good job in there and we were only fifth or sixth. There is a lot of depth in the top 10 now so it is very competitive.
Gilmour was pleased with the performance of her Suzuki AP4 but feels there is still improvement to be made before the season finale Rally New Zealand based in Tauranga next month.
"It is definitely a pleasure to drive," she said. "I feel like we still have got more development in the car itself - we need to make it a big lighter to make the most of the advantage we have running the smaller engine. We are basically running the same weight or heavier than the bigger engine cars so we need to give the car a diet to try and get a bit of an advantage there.
"We need to get a bit more power out of the engine as well, which is part of that whole development.
"This year we wanted reliability in the engine which is where we had struggled in the previous seasons and the car has been great this year. It has been other mechanical things and me hitting things and damaging steering racks that have made it a terrible season.
"It is about looking now for those extra bits of speed.
"And for me it is getting to do more miles. I haven't done as many fast miles as I would like - there is nothing like seat time."
Gilmour will bring the car back to Dunedin to run in some local events before the final event of the year. Time behind the wheel is so important both for the driver to keep sharp but also to help develop the car.
That is something that Gilmour is considering in terms of the next move. Her current car is one of the older AP4 cars and she is looking into idea of replacing it at some point in the next year or so.
"You look at the R5 cars, the beauty of them is that there is thousands of kilometres worth of development done with them all around the world," last year's Rally Canterbury winner said. "We are trying to do that with limited time and budget relative to that world scale.
"I have fantastic support from Suzuki and Vantage Windows & Doors and ultimately I want to be in the new shape Suzuki Swift Sport but I don't know if that will be next year or the following year.
"We will take what we've learned from this car and build it into a newer car.
"It is great having the manufacturer support from Suzuki and that keeps us able to keep competing at the top level of the sport."
A win at Rally New Zealand would make up for the frustration that Gilmour has endured this year and she feels that is realistic heading to the two-day rally on some of our most iconic roads.
"It would be great to get a win at the end of the season.
"I think there are probably half a dozen of us now that if everything goes right on the day we have the ability to win."
