She was one of 18 women - nine drivers and nine co-drivers - chosen yesterday from 85 applicants from 39 countries, by a selection panel to participate in the joint FIA Women in Motorsport and Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation (QMMF) cross-country rally project.
Before she embarked on a decade of rally driving, Gilmour (35) rode trail motorbikes, so the adventurous nature of cross-country racing appealed.
''It is something that has always interested me. For a long time I have thought that doing the Dakar Rally would be awesome,'' Gilmour, who was the sole Kiwi woman chosen, said.
She will take part in a five-day training and assessment programme in Qatar, where one driver and one co-driver will ultimately be chosen to team up and participate in the 2016 Sealine Cross-Country Rally in April 2016, courtesy of QMMF.
President of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission and French former WRC rally driver Michele Mouton, who was joined on the assessment committee by Jutta Kleinschmidt and Fabrizia Pons, said they were impressed by the calibre of applicants, which made this initial selection process very difficult.
''Our [National Sport Authorities] ASNs really got behind this project and it has demonstrated there are a lot of women out there who want to come and try a different discipline,'' she said.
The desert training camp, between November 2 and 7, will be led by two of the sport's top women competitors - Kleinschmidt, the first and only woman to win the Dakar Rally, and multiple rally and cross-country winning co-driver Pons.
Both will guide the candidates through an intense training and development programme, encompassing all the essential techniques required for this motorsport discipline.
''The desert training will be tough, but it has to be because this is the nature of the sport,'' Kleinschmidt said.
''For a lot of the time during an event the crew is on its own and they need to be resourceful, determined and focused, often in extreme conditions and temperatures.''
Gilmour hoped her years of national and international rallying would give her an advantage and planned to brush up on her mechanical skills, as well as attending some Bikram yoga classes, normally held in temperatures of 40degC, to prepare for the training camp.
