McLaren first female driver Emma Gilmour to compete in debut Extreme E season

McLaren Racing is set to expand from its usual single seater cars to off-road SUVs as it competes in its first season of Extreme E.

The team will race in some of the most remote areas of the world, starting in Saudi Arabia for the Desert Prix this month.

Making up the Extreme E team is the USA’s Tanner Foust and Emma Gilmour of New Zealand — McLaren’s first ever female racing driver.

Gilmour was announced as part of the McLaren family in November 2021 and she is ready to make her mark when her team goes racing in the electric off-road championship.

With a background of rallying, rallycross and cross-country rallying, Gilmour is the perfect fit to represent McLaren in this year’s Extreme E.

Ahead of the Desert Prix later this month, the McLaren driver sat down with GiveMeSport Women to talk about racing in Extreme E and how her appointment as the team’s first female driver is inspiring other women around the world.

Gilmour’s love for sport actually started on the back of a horse — not behind the wheel of a kart, as is the case for most professional racing drivers.

The New Zealander wanted to take her equestrian passion to the highest level by competing at the Olympics, but her career arc changed as soon as she got her driving licence.

“I started by navigating for my sister and my cousin in rallying — that’s the person who sits beside the driver and holds the pacenotes,” Gilmour reminisced. “I started in the passenger seat and I really enjoyed the speed and sliding on gravel but I never imagined that I could actually do that.

“But I eventually had a go at driving and it was like a duck to water.”

Gilmour explained how her horse riding training proved to be beneficial behind the wheel, as the hand-eye coordination