AUSF3: Gilmour Racing 2005 season review

2005 had a satisfying end result for Gilmour Racing -- with Chris Gilmour finishing fourth in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship standings. However, it was a turbulent year for the team with deep lows towards the start of the season, but a strong improvement in the second half of the year.

Gilmour Racing spent the entire season handicapped with the older Dallara F301 chassis, while the other leading competitors had the newer, and faster F304 chassis. Nevertheless, Chris Gilmour made the best of his equipment and was the highest finisher in the standings using the older model; the top-3 drivers each drove the newer cars.

"I went into 2005 wanting to win the championship after having a great 2004 series," explained Chris Gilmour, "But I knew we would struggle in the older car and we didn't have a high budget again in 2005 - I think we did 2 test days for the year, and that makes it hard"

The season also saw Gilmour Racing suffer their biggest setback, with a shattered car and a broken leg for Chris Gilmour at the Australian Grand Prix. The disaster also showed the team the true meaning of "character building." A new tub had to be brought from overseas and assembled to make the car race-worthy in time for the second round of the championship, straining the team's resources to the limit, and Chris had to mend a broken leg. Amazingly the team achieved all this and returned to the track, without missing a round, only six weeks after the accident.

Chris Gilmour finished the season on 142 points - nearly twice as many as his closest rival in fifth place. During the course of the season, Chris amassed a total of five podium finishes, and was only 36 points shy of third position in the championship standings.

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

-www.gilmourracing.com.