Gilmour first to finish — but no win
DUNEDIN driver Emma Gilmour had her breakthrough win in the Extreme E electric rally series yesterday.
But then it was taken away. Gilmour and codriver Tanner Foust piloted their Neom McLaren to victory in a dramatic X Prix final in the Chilean desert in the penultimate round of the series.
Ontrack victory was then followed by multiple penalties — generally handed out in the series for missing waypoints — and the McLaren duo dropped to fifth.
‘‘It was actually a really amazing weekend with so many positives,’’ Gilmour said.
‘‘The whole team has shown stuff that we have worked on over the first three rounds. We’ve really shown how much we’ve grown as a team, how strong we are and how competitive we are.
‘‘Really happy with our efforts and it’s a shame we had a few penalties in the final.’’
X44 Vida Carbon Racing, with French rally great Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez aboard in the mixedsex series, finished second on course but ended up winning the X Prix when the McLaren vehicle was penalised.
Loeb and Foust had engaged in a thrilling battle in the final, Foust passing the French star while sideways to give McLaren a slight edge before entering the switch zone, where Gilmour waited.
Gutierrez passed the Dunedin driver on the first lap but Gilmour made her move on the inside on the final lap to claim ontrack victory.
The McLaren pair had to battle to even make the final, finishing fourth in the time trial and fifth in the qualifying heat.
That forced them into the
Crazy Race shootout, which they won to earn the fifth and last spot in the final.
McLaren is fifth in the
Extreme E series on 34 points with one round remaining in Uruguay in November.
Rosberg X Racing leads the series on 83 points, followed by Vida Carbon (66), Sainz XE (60) and Chip Ganassi Racing (55).