With more than 20 years of experience in the motor racing world, including deputising at this year's Extreme E race in Greenland with Veloce Racing, Gilmour says she is honoured to have locked in a full-time driving seat in the new global championship.

"It's amazing, I get goosebumps and it still doesn't feel real, I never imagined I would have the opportunity to race for McLaren," Emma Gilmour told ABC Sport from London.

McLaren has strong ties to New Zealand. The company was founded by Kiwi racing legend, innovator and engineer Bruce McLaren in 1963. 

"Growing up in New Zealand, McLaren is such a huge name with motor sport and we are all very proud about the Bruce McLaren heritage," she said.

Making her mark in the male-dominated world of racing 

Gilmour was a competitive horse rider in her youth, but when she came across rallying in her 20s it was love at first drive.

"I went from the navigators' seat into the drivers' seat, I absolutely love going fast and I was hooked on rallying," she said.

"I love making the car dance from corner to corner on a slippery surface — a feeling that's kept me hooked for almost 20 years."

In 2016 she became the first and only female to date to win a New Zealand Rally Championship event, the Rally of Canterbury, and was runner-up in the championship three years straight.

She also won the FIA Women in motor sport and Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation cross-country rally selection in 2015.

Being a woman on the track puts her in the minority, but the 42-year-old said change was happening in the male-dominated industry.

"[When] I started in motor sport over 20 years ago as a navigator, women stood out because there weren't many women," she said.

"Nowadays, especially rallying in New Zealand, there's a huge number of females either driving or co-driving, a lot of girls in go karting, speedway, all across the board.

"I think change is slowly happening and it has to happen at grass-roots level so that it filters through. Hopefully in time it won't even be something we talk about; it's just normal." 

Increasing female participation will take time, but not just in the driver's seat.

"Motorsport is a really tough sport, but an amazing sport for kids to get into," she said.

"You don't even have to be a driver — there's engineering and car design. It's a huge and really exciting industry."

Gilmour said there would likely be a female Formula One driver, but it is not going to be easy.

"I can't see why it wouldn't happen, it would be wonderful one day to see a female crack the F1 and be there on the grid," she said.

"But we have to appreciate how damn tough it is to get to the pinnacle of F1 and consider how many amazing drivers regardless of gender that haven't made it.

"There's that many talented male drivers as well as female drivers that have never had a shot at Formula One. It's not to say that they didn't have the ability, it really comes down to money, luck, timing and all those factors at the elite level."

What is Extreme E?

Extreme E is a FIA-supported off-road racing series that started this year and is committed to having a net-zero carbon footprint across its five races in a series of diverse locations to highlight the impact of climate change.

Each Extreme E team has a full-time male and female driver, plus two reserves.

Gilmour hopes gender diversity will attract new talent and a wider audience. 

"Every car has a male and female driver — each doing a lap. That's never been done in any top sport at international level, so it's really exciting," she said.

"It's not an existing sport that's been electrified, or made male and female; they've come up with something completely new and different."

Each team drives electric vehicles capable of putting out 550 horsepower on various off-road circuits.

The sport has attracted big players such as Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button as team owners.

"It's about using sport as a platform to talk about things like climate change, [gender] equality and how we can do things differently," Gilmour said.

"We go into remote locations that have experienced climate change and would never see live sport — which will be broadcast to help educate people."

Australian Molly Taylor won the inaugural race in the Saudi Arabian desert in April this year, alongside Johan Kristoffersson for Rosberg's team.

Story By | Chloe Hart