Dunedin driver Emma Gilmour is probably still wiping the mud off her boots — but she will have a smile on her face.
Gilmour helped her McLaren team to a second podium in the Extreme E all-electric rally series at the Hydro X Prix in Scotland yesterday.
She and co-driver Tanner Foust finished second in the fourth round, the second of two held inside a restored former opencast coalmine in Dumfries and Galloway, which is being transformed into a pumped storage hydropower plant and wind farm.
Steady rain — an unusual sight in the Extreme E series, which has tended to be held in more tropical climes — turned the track into an old-fashioned mud bath, and it was not long before the vehicles were all the same colour.
"It was tough," Gilmour said.
"It was a tricky track. The conditions were so changeable."
It was a second podium for McLaren in the series following its second at the final race in Uruguay last season, and garnered important championship points.
"It’s been an amazing trip and it’s been very challenging. The weather conditions have made it even more so.
"It was very stressful, especially when there are slow zones and so many places where you can potentially make a mistake, but you are very happy when you can hand it over to your team-mate having done a good job.
"To get a podium was a big relief for the team — just a great feeling — and everyone has put in so much work so we are all really happy."
The McLaren team qualified in first for the round four grand final but copped a 30sec time penalty to drop to second.
Foust handled the first two laps of the grand final and Gilmour the final two, the Dunedin driver showing her class and experience to seal second spot.
Veloce Racing (Kevin Hansen and Molly Taylor) claimed victory, marking its second second success of the season and a return to the top of the standings for the British squad on home soil.
Gilmour and Foust had missed the five-car grand final in the third round of the series the previous day, and they placed third in the "redemption race".
McLaren is sixth in the 10-team series on 36 points. Veloce leads on 80 followed by Sainz XE (69) and Rosberg Racing (52).
The next two Extreme E rounds are in Sardinia in July.
