The international co-driver is taking the wheel of a friend's Toyota Trueno and accomplished rally driver Gilmour will be reading the pace notes for the eight special stages. They attempted this role reversal at the same event a few years ago, but mechanical problems ended their day early.
Usually ultra-competitive, Gilmour insisted it "should be a bit of fun" and was a novel way of celebrating Macneall's birthday today.
"I'm a bit of a nervous passenger but I'll be all right," she said, with a laugh.
The pair join a bumper field of 88 drivers, led out by top seed Balclutha's Dean Bond in his Mitsubishi Evo 6.5. The defending champion and 2009 winner, he has come a long way since his days marshalling for the early Catlins rallies.
He eventually graduated to entering in a leased Toyota Corolla, then buying one of his own in 2005, before beginning a successful campaign in his current car three years ago.
Second seed will be Kaikoura's Regan Ross in a Mitsubishi Evo 9.
He would love to add a Catlins win to his portfolio, especially after his 2010 lead went up in smoke when his engine blew.
Third on the road is the 2005 winner and a former New Zealand Rally Xtreme and Mainland Rally Series champion Derek Ayson, of Gore. Notably driving his classic Ford Escort to three successive classic Rally of Otago wins from 2009 to 2011, Ayson has lately been lured back to four-wheel-drive. He was leading the Catlins event last year in his new Mitsubishi Evo 8, when he made a "silly mistake" which sent him off the road.
He has driven in all 11 Catlins rallies, thus guaranteeing him intimate local knowledge of the roads making up the 157km of competitive stages, which are "very similar to last year", rally secretary Roger Laird said.
Fourth seed Andrew Graves, of Gore, won the 2010 rally in his Mitsubishi Evo 3 and will dust off his later model charger for another crack at victory.
Rhys Gardner, of Balclutha, is fifth on the road.
After competing strongly in two-wheel-drive cars in the past - including seventh overall at last year's Catlins Rally - he has made a transition to a Mitsubishi Evo 7 this season.
Rounding out the top 10 are Dunedin's Steve Wellington, 2011 national hillclimb champion Lyndon Galbraith, of Brisbane, Gore's Paul Cross, Oamaru driver Scott Simpson and first of the two-wheel-drive competitors, Marcus Van Klink, of Kaiapoi.
The first car will leave from Owaka at 9am and is scheduled to clock in at 3.41pm at the final control on the Riverside Reserve stage in Balclutha.
