VW to assess Emma Gilmour as part of WRC driver hunt

The 29-year-old, a regular in her native domestic championship, has been in contact with the German firm and will test a Skoda Fabia S2000 ahead of a possible start on November's final round of the World Rally Championship. Volkswagen is using an S2000 Skoda programme to evaluate potential drivers for its 2013 WRC project.

Volkswagen motorsport director Kris Nissen said: "We are in contact with Emma. We would like to see her in a car for a test, but there is no date. We know her record. We are in this for the motorsport, the final aim is to win races, if Emma comes to us and shows she can do a good job in testing, we might put her in the race."

The vast majority of the 25 drivers who have spoken to Nissen about a drive with the WRC's newest team have been male and Nissen admitted VW was unlikely to become the first manufacturer since Audi ran Michele Mouton in the 1980s to offer a female driver a full factory seat at the highest level of rallying.

"We would be very happy to see other lady drivers, although, frankly speaking, I have the feeling for the moment a lot of young guys might show more potential than Emma," Nissen said.

He added that there was no guarantee a British driver would be tested on the Cardiff-based event. In the two rallies VW has run so far, it evaluated one Finn in Finland and a German driver in Germany.

"We are international," said Nissen. "The nationality of a driver is not the first issue, it's more about the quality."