22nd September 2004:

2004 Australian F3 Championship Round 7 Mallala Round Report - Written by Darius Koreis

Gilmour Retakes Championship Lead At Mallala

The 2004 Australian Formula 3 Championship returned to South Australia with Chris Gilmour hungry for the championship lead. Gilmour had held the championship lead from the second round at Oran Park till the previous round at Wakefield Park, but now had a 4-point deficit over Karl Reindler.

Wishing to retake the championship lead, Gilmour Racing traveled to the Mallala Motorsport Park circuit for testing the week prior to the round. They gained the bonus of learning the circuit, and obtaining setup data before the actual championship round. However the test did not run without a hitch.

Chris lost control of the Dallara F301, and while the car only suffered suspension damage, Chris broke his thumb. He was however able to continue later in the day after going to hospital. It was the first occasion the team had the opportunity to test during the season, and they were confident of having a successful meeting before the final round of the championship at their home event, the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast.

Practice:
Due to the advantage of the previous testing, the team was able to bypass their usual phase of learning the track from both a driver and car viewpoint. Instead Gilmour Racing was able to concentrate on refining their suspension setup, and hit the track on old tyres. At the conclusion of the first practice session, Chris held the third fastest time. He lapped the 2.6 kilometre Mallala circuit in 1m05.5520s. The Team BRM duo of Tim Slade and Karl Reindler led the session.
Prior to the second practice session Gilmour Racing made some changes to the rear suspension springs. Again, Gilmour finished the session in third place behind the two Team BRM drivers. His fastest recorded time was 1m05.4943s, marginally faster than the time he set in the first practice session.

Qualifying:
Overnight the weather conditions changed, affecting the track's grip level, and Gilmour suffered from handling problems as a result. Chris was forced to fight hard to try to set competitive lap times. But his thumb, not having the time to heal since his testing shunt, limited how much he could attack corner apexes. Chris Gilmour's best lap of 1m04.9532s was only good enough to place him in sixth place on the race 1 grid. Karl Reindler captured pole. While the grid placing was less than ideal, the team took comfort in the fact that Chris had set consistent lap times.

The team regrouped for Saturday's second qualifying session, which decided the race 2 grid. Changes were made to the spring settings, and the top gear. The beginning of the 20-minute session was rather frantic. Gilmour Racing had installed a new engine control unit, except the engine was not responding well to it, so Chris had to return to the pits on his second lap, and the new engine control unit was replaced with the old, fixing the problem. Chris set the third fastest lap in the session. Gilmour's time of 1m04.5957s placed him 0.2222 seconds behind pole position winner, Karl Reindler. The times were again consistent, with little
wear on the tyres. Therefore the team was confident that they would be competitive at least in the second race.

Race 1:
Starting from sixth place Gilmour Racing knew they would have a tough race ahead of them. Chris timed the starting lights well and got great traction off the grid, passing Aaron Caratti before the first corner. Gilmour's next victim was Ian Dyk. Gilmour came from nowhere to make a fantastic pass on Dyk, nailing him under brakes at the end of the back straight, and ending the first lap in fourth position.

The next driver on Gilmour's chopping block was Nic Jordan. On the eighth lap Gilmour replicated his earlier passing maneuver, and stormed by Jordan under brakes. Back in the pits, the Gilmour Racing crew was amazed with how late under brakes Chris could go at the end of the back straight. With championship in mind, Chris drove away from Jordan, and reeled in the duo of Tim Slade, leading, and Karl Reindler, second. By the twelfth lap Gilmour had caught them, and he targeted championship rival, Reindler.

Yet again Gilmour was able to execute a pass at what was fast becoming one of his favorite corners. With only three laps remaining, Slade pulled a gap on Chris, and took victory on debut, at his home circuit. Gilmour crossed the line in second place, with Reindler in third, cutting the deficit between himself and the Team
BRM driver to 3 points.

Race 2:
With the dashing run during the first race in mind, Gilmour Racing lined up on the grid pleased with the prospects for the second race. Gilmour got a solid start, and slotted in behind Slade and Reindler. For the first half of the race Gilmour kept a safe distance behind the two Team BRM drivers who were having a very energetic tussle. But the race erupted on lap 8 when Reindler made a move on Slade, who tried to counter Reindler's move, and created a gap. Gilmour saw the opportunity, and tried to go up the inside of Slade. Next Slade turned across on Chris, and locked up under brakes at turn 6, trying to repass Reindler, and sending the battle into a three-wide xtravaganza. Foreseeing an accident, Gilmour retreated, and once again slotted into third position behind the two who continued their battle.

On the twelfth lap the action heated up again. Slade locked up his brakes, and Reindler followed suit. The pair ran off, handing the lead to Gilmour. Chris grasped the opportunity with his nine good fingers, and never looked back. He greeted the chequered flag ahead of Nic Jordan and Aaron Caratti. Chris Gilmour took his fifth race win of the year, and the team's third round win of the season. However, most importantly, with only a single round remaining in this year's championship, Chris Gilmour once again sits in first position in the championship standings. He leads on 219 points; Karl Reindler lays in second on 210, and Ian Dyk in third with 174.

Gilmour Racing eagerly await the final round of the championship, their home event, the Lexmark Indy 300. Chris Gilmour hopes to win the Australian Formula 3 Championship in front of thousands of fellow Queenslanders on the streets of Surfers Paradise in a month's time.

The final round of the 2004 Australian Formula 3 Championship is held at the Lexmark Indy 300 on the Gold Coast, October 21-24.

Gilmour Racing would like to thank Gawler Farm Machinery and Identity Plus Embroidery in South Australia, and PM Lubricants, Revolution Racegear and Gilmour Developments in Brisbane for their continual support.