McLaren Racing signs Emma Gilmour for maiden Extreme E tilt
McLaren Racing has signed Emma Gilmour as the first female factory driver in the outfit’s near 60-year history to complete its Extreme E driver line-up alongside Tanner Foust.
McLaren will make its debut in the electric SUV off-road racing series in 2022, becoming the 10th team on the grid, and has already announced three-time American rallycross champion Foust as one half of its male-female pairing.
Gilmour, who like McLaren is a Kiwi, has already contested two Extreme E events having stepped up to replace W Series fixture-tied Jamie Chadwick in her role as reserve driver for the Veloce Racing entry.
Motorsport.com understands that Gilmour’s move to McLaren would have already precluded her from contesting the post-Sardinia event day prior to Stephane Sarrazin rolling the car.
The announcement of Gilmour was made during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, with Prince Charles in attendance at the McLaren media event as a VIP guest.
McLaren Racing's Extreme E launch livery
McLaren, founded in 1963, also presented its launch livery, which keeps a more traditional papaya orange base and is adorned with graphics depicting the Arctic, Amazon, desert and ocean Extreme E race locations.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said: “We’re proud to join His Royal Highness to announce Emma Gilmour as the first-ever female driver for McLaren Racing.
“Emma completes our exciting and competitive driver line-up alongside Tanner Foust for our first season of Extreme E.
“She’s a race winner and has proven herself this year in Extreme E alongside a vast background in competitive off-roading in multiple racing series across the globe.
“It’s fitting that our first female driver originates from New Zealand where our founder Bruce McLaren was from.”
Revered Le Mans-winning engineer and Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year Award judge Leena Gade has also been signed by McLaren as its race engineer for the Extreme E programme.
According to a McLaren statement, Gade moves to the team “on secondment” from Multimatic, vehicle dynamics partner to McLaren Extreme E.
New Zealand Rally Championship event winner Gilmour added: “I’m incredibly honoured to be McLaren Racing’s first female driver.
“Growing up in New Zealand, Bruce McLaren and McLaren Racing are seen as the pinnacles of motorsport.
“To be competing in Extreme E next year with McLaren is a special opportunity.
“The series is a fantastic platform that represents equality and addresses the key issues affecting our planet and society.
“I’m looking to draw on my previous experience in Extreme E alongside all my skills across rally, rallycross and cross-country rallying, that make me well-suited to the sport, to make a positive impact and inspire the next generation of female drivers and engineers.
“I can’t wait to get started with the team.”
Related video
UK chancellor unveils £1m plan for Scottish XE round in budget
Why Pure ETCR champion Cupra chooses electric motorsport
How XE's Arctic adventure gave a chilly reminder of the fixes to find
Extreme E’s third round provided the very definition of extreme conditions in the Arctic Circle, and despite settling on a successful format and Andretti United taking a maiden win, there remains plenty of work to do with the spec cars that froze in action
Why McLaren’s surprise electric path can benefit everyone involved
McLaren's announcement that it will enter the Extreme E series for electric SUVs next year came as something of a surprise. But it brings benefits that other championships it could seek to enter cannot, while providing a timely boost to a start-up that has had to cancel two of its South American rounds.
Why Extreme E's Senegal round hints at the series' true potential
Extreme E's second round on the sands of Senegal refined some the more clunky aspects of the series' debut event in Saudi Arabia. Even though its star-studded finale between Lewis Hamilton's X44 team and Rosberg X Racing proved anticlimactic, the pieces are in place for the series to only get better
How Extreme E exceeded expectations to pass its first major test
The racing may have lacked the explosive conclusion to Formula E's first race in 2014 and was not without its hiccups. But Extreme E's leap into the unknown appears to have paid off, delivering a spectacle quite unlike anything else
Extreme E: The team-by-team guide
The world’s newest motorsport discipline is set to go racing for the first time this weekend. Extreme E’s innovations and plans have raised some eyebrows, but it also provides an exciting list of competitors and teams for the inaugural campaign
How Extreme E’s charging solution could transform motorsport
The new off-road SUV series aims to go boldly into the unknown on several fronts, but perhaps its most significant measure will involve the energy source powering its fleet of cars
How XE's star power puts Formula E under pressure
With the addition of Jenson Button's own team to join the involvement of fellow Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Extreme E's ranks, the new electric SUV series is brimming with star power to enable it to deliver on its promise
Driving the electric beast behind XE’s off-road eco-crusade
In October, Motorsport.com headed to the South of France to sample the Odyssey 21 - the titanic 550bhp machine underpinning Alejandro Agag's latest electric venture. But for such a big beast, it's a nimble machine that should provide spectacular entertainment…