Gilmour off to a solid start in 2005 - 27/2/05

Gilmour Racing 2005 Round 1 Wakefield Park Report - Written by Darius Koreis

After a long off-season, Gilmour Racing and Chris Gilmour are off to a solid start in their campaign for the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship, at Wakefield Park. Chris Gilmour now lays in fifth position in the points standings.

Practice:
It was the first time out on track in the new season, and it was a case of shaking off any nerves and getting back in business. Chris Gilmour took full advantage of the first practice session, and ran 20 timed laps, reacquainting himself with the Wakefield Park circuit. Gilmour Racing spent the session coming to grips with the new Kumho control tyre, and trying to find the right tyre pressures. Gilmour set the fourth fastest lap time, lapping in 56.1516 seconds.

In the second 30-minute practice session Gilmour completed 19 laps around the 2.2km track, and set a best time of 56.6327 seconds. He finished the second practice session with the seventh fastest lap time.

Qualifying:
As is always the case around the short Wakefield Park circuit, traffic played a major part during qualifying. With a rejuvenated field of 16 machines taking to the track almost simultaneously, it was difficult to find the space needed to lock-in a hot lap without being balked. Setup changes overnight made the car feel very good, but the traffic hindered Gilmour from setting an ideal lap time.

Nevertheless, Chris Gilmour took an early lead in the first qualifying session. But he was edged out, and finished with a time that was good enough for fifth position on the grid for the first race. He completed 17 laps in the first qualifying session, setting a best time of 55.2304 seconds.

Gilmour also finished the second qualifying session in fifth position on the timesheets. He ran 19 laps, and clocked a fastest lap of 55.8008 seconds.

The two qualifying sessions each set their respective grid positions for Sunday's races. With fifth position for both races, Gilmour would start both of Sunday's races from the front of the third row.

Race One:
Off the lights Chris Gilmour got a good start, and emerged in fourth position. However his run came to a halt when a red flag was brought out, and the race had to be restarted.

On the restart Chris had another good start, and he found himself going four-wide into the first corner. When the confusion of the first corner was over, Gilmour emerged in sixth position.

Gilmour was able to keep up with the competitors ahead for the majority of the race, but suffered from bad understeer and was unable to pass. Towards the end of the race Gilmour had some back luck with lapped traffic, catching at inopportune moments, and lost ground. The final couple of laps had some excitement for Gilmour when his car ran dangerously low on fuel, and he had to conserve his fuel to finish the race.

At the end of the first race, the Queenslander steered his red Dallara F301 into a comfortable sixth position. The sixth placed result meant that Gilmour would open his 2005 championship tally with 6 points.

Race Two:
To solve the problematic understeer that they endured in the first race, the team made a number of changes to the chassis and the problem was adequately solved.

At the start of race two, Gilmour had a good start, and came out in fourth position. For the remainder of the race, he was in the thick of the action. While battling ahead of him, Caruso and Trimble clashed, and Caruso retired, promoting Gilmour to third place. On the next lap, Gilmour passed Trimble and moved up into second position. He did not hold the position for long though. On lap 10 Trimble passed Gilmour, moving him back into third.

The race settled down momentarily during a safety car period, but it quickly heated up again. Ahead of him, Alajajian ran off, and at the same time Gilmour passed Trimble, and moved into first position briefly. Trimble was quick to recover, and with his newer model Dallara, was quickly able to re-pass Gilmour. For a couple of laps Gilmour lay in second position, but with three laps to go he was dispatched in quick succession by the Astuti duo of Caratti and Alajajian, demoting him to fourth position. Fourth is where he stayed as he crossed the line to finish the race, ending the race less than two seconds behind the leader.

By finishing fourth, Chris Gilmour added 10 points to his championship haul, and ended the opening round of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship with 16 points. Gilmour stands fifth in the championship standings, after round one of eight.

Gilmour Racing leave Wakefield Park happy with their performance in the opening round of 2005. With the new Dallara F304 cars showing their muscle, the team is happy to be running up the front of the older model Dallara F301s, and still be able to mix it with the newer cars.

Gilmour Racing can next be seen contesting the non-championship round at Albert Park, Melbourne, as a support category at the Australian Grand Prix, March 3-6. The 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship continues with the second round of year being held at Mallala, South Australia, on April 15-17.

For their support in 2005, Gilmour Racing would like to thank PM Lubricants, Revolution Racegear and Gilmour Developments.