The Hunter River Times

BY ALEX TIGANI

Singleton’s Ryan Gilroy admits his phone has not stopped ringing over the past fortnight.

The 21-year-old capped off a memorable Dunlop Super3 series debut with a podium finish before an adoring home crowd at the Newcastle 500.

“It made the champagne taste a little bit better even though it was awful champagne,” Gilroy playfully told The Hunter River Times that evening.

Gilroy, who now represents Aim Motorsport, managed to avoid a crash in Race 2 to finish 10^th overall in the race that included both Super 2 and Super 3 categories.

There were scenes of elation as he was mobbed by proud family and crew members before climbing onto the Super 3 podium alongside Mount Gambier’s Jobe Stewart (Image Racing) and third generation driver Cameron McLeod.

“It was a pretty good bounce back from where we were on the Friday, nearly crashing the car on practise two and cutting the practise short,” Gilroy reflected.

“Then going into Sunday we had to relearn everything and Sunday we stuffed up qualifying pretty bad.

“Next thing you know we’re sitting at P3 and P10 and when I got out it felt like I was flooded by three million people, it was a very special moment to share with my family.”

Prior to the Newcastle 500, which was held from March 10-12, he had the fortunate of unveiling his new car before 60 of his closest supporters, friends and family at a gathering in Maison Dieu. Gilroy could not help but smile when discovering his caricature, illustrated by The Hunter River Times’ very own Glenn Warr, was displayed on the roof.

He hopes to take his momentum when competing in the Perth Supersprint, the next event in series to be held from April 28-30.

“To leave last year on a high with some trophies and start this year with some trophies and a car that was unscratched is pretty good,” he concluded.