Island Success For Gilmour
2005 Australian F3 - Gilmour Racing - Round 6 Philip Island Report
Written by Darius Koreis
 
After a successful sixth round of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship at Philip Island, Chris Gilmour and Gilmour Racing are now within striking distance of third position in the championship standings.
 
Striking while the iron was still hot, the team capitalised on their terrific fifth round at Eastern Creek, where Gilmour Racing moved from fifth to fourth in the championship standings. By finishing the two Philip Island races in third and fourth position Chris Gilmour earned a further 22 points. Chris Gilmour now has a total of 106 points and is now only 12 points away from third position in the championship.
 
Practice:
Both of the Friday practice sessions were run in the wet, and the team was not concerned with setting blistering lap times. Remembering the last time he ran in the wet, Chris circulated with the aim of re-accustoming himself with the Philip Island circuit. Also, it was only the second time that the team and Chris had visited Philip Island, so the sessions were used to try various setups that could help later in the weekend. In the first session Chris set a fastest lap of 1:42.7725min; seventh fastest, and in the second practice session Chris set a fastest lap time of 1:53.9386min, putting him in eighth for the session.
 
Qualifying:
As had been hoped for, the weather improved, and the circuit was dry. Gilmour Racing had made some significant and successful changes to the car’s setup at the previous round at Eastern Creek, and the team made further changes ahead of the round at Philip Island. The changes were noticeable with clear performance gains, and Chris Gilmour had a pair of successful qualifying sessions as a result.
 
In the first qualifying session Chris had some difficulty with traffic, and was baulked at some critical stages. Nevertheless, Chris pushed himself as hard as he could, and set his fastest lap of the session on his last timed lap. Chris reported that the car had never felt that good before, and he took advantage of the car’s speed. Setting a best time of 1:28.0604min, Chris Gilmour qualified third for the first race, matching his best qualifying effort of the year to date. Gilmour said afterwards, “I love driving on this circuit in the dry. It rewards driving hard and fast. It’s a great track, and I just wish it was in Queensland!"
 
For the second qualifying session the team did not change anything to the setup, as Chris was reporting good handling through corners, and great traction out of the corners. Despite the track conditions being slower, Chris set a best time that was comparative to his first session time; a 1:28.2095min. Once again the time was competitive, and Chris Gilmour found himself with the third fastest time of the session. With a pair of third position starts looming, the team were confident of a strong showing on Sunday.
 
Race 1:
Chris Gilmour did not get the best of starts to the first race; a little too much wheel spin causing him to get a less than perfect start. Nevertheless, Chris only dropped a single position into the first corner. The race progressed and the three cars ahead of Gilmour were within his reach. The leading trio then began to fight, and Chris was positioning himself to make a move. The leading pack was suddenly disrupted on the eighth lap while passing lapped traffic. Ahead of Gilmour, Chris Alajajian hit a backmarker, and speared off the track. The accident meant that Chris Gilmour had moved into third position. For the remainder of the race Chris diced with reigning Formula 4000 champion Neil McFadyen. Chris Gilmour was able to fend off McFadyen’s assaults, and crossed the line in third position. Chris was delighted to be on the podium for the third time this year.
 
Race 2:
When the lights went out Chris Gilmour got off to a magnificent start, passing both Aaron Caratti and Michael Trimble, and moving into the lead. However, the race lead was fleeting, with Chris getting pushed wide into the dirt into the run into the first corner, and Chris emerged in third position. Caratti pulled away in the race lead, but Gilmour hung onto the back on Trimble’s car. The car had the top speed to make a pass, but was struggling out of the exit of corners, so making a pass was nearly impossible. On the fourth lap, Chris made an error exiting the second corner, trying to get a run on Trimble into the hairpin, and he understeered into the grass. The cost of the mistake was losing around 4 seconds on the track, and losing two race positions to McFadyen and Tim Macrow. Chris rejoined the race in fifth, and quickly hunted Macrow down. On lap six Gilmour dived past Macrow, and moved into fourth. Unfortunately the time lost during the off-road excursion was too large, and Gilmour was unable to make up the difference to McFadyen. Gilmour resigned himself to finishing fourth, and picking up another strong haul of points.
 
By finishing the two races in third and fourth, Chris picked up 12 and 10 points respectively. Chris Gilmour’s 2005 tally is now 106 points, and he continues to lay in fourth position in the championship. In addition, the good results in both of the races at Philip Island means that Chris Gilmour has greatly reduced the gap between himself and Chris Alajajian in third position. Prior to the weekend Gilmour had been 34 points behind Alajajian, but he now has third in his sights. Gilmour has also created a comfortable margin between himself and Tim Macrow in fifth position. A 39-point gap now exists between himself and Macrow
 
The next round of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship is the long-awaited weekend at Eastern Creek, where the series will be acting as a support category for the newly created A1 Grand Prix series. With a plethora international talent and team personal, everyone wants to impress at The Creek in front of the foreign visitors, and Chris Gilmour is no exception. "I’m going for the win. Someone needs to beat Caratti, and I think I’m the man to do that in the right car. So we will see how we go."
 
Round seven of the 2005 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will be held at Eastern Creek on November 3-6.
 
For their support in 2005, Gilmour Racing would like to thank Identity Plus, PM Lubricants, Revolution Racegear and Gilmour Developments.
 
For additional information about the team, please visit the Gilmour Racing website at http://www.gilmourracing.com/.
 
Contact Information:
Errol Gilmour: 0418 788448, GilmourErrolG@JohnDeere.com
Chris Gilmour: 0438 632459, gilmourracing@optusnet.com.au