Gilroy to make Sandown debut
BY ALEX TIGANI
A surprise rise to fame has lifted Ryan Gilroy’s confidence ahead of this month’s Toyota 86 Series event at Sandown.
The 20-year-old, who will represent the Sieders Racing team at the Penrite Oil Sandown SuperSprint from August 19-21, made headlines last month when participating in the Haltech V8 SuperUte Series held at The Bend Motorsport Park.
Gilroy finished third in Race 2 behind former Dunlop Super2 Series driver Adam Marjoram and series leader Aaron Borg after making the most of starting from pole to get onto the podium in his Ford Ranger.
His total of 141 points across the three-day event saw him finish shy of Marjoram (164), David Sieders (152) and George Gutierrez (150).
Gilroy’s SuperUte debut was fast tracked after a conversion with Luke Sieders at Mount Panorama in May.
“When we were racing at the 86s it had been quite a frustrating year for me personally with poor results,” Gilroy told The Hunter River Times.
“So Luke said ‘have a think’, I said yes and it was pretty good; I think I exceeded my own expectations.”
Fast forward two months later and even Australian motorsport legend Craig Lowndes took the time out to congratulate Singleton’s rising star.
Gilroy admitted he was star struck.
“It was cool that he made mention of me on the broadcast, that sort of stuff goes a long way,” Gilroy concluded.