Gilroy relishing second Dunlop Series chance
Ryan Gilroy returns to competition after long injury layoff
Gilroy fills in for Zane Morse, who himself is out injured with a broken wrist
Gilroy praises AIM for ‘faultless weekend so far’
Ryan Gilroy was having a solid campaign in his maiden season of Super3 in 2023 for AIM Motorsport, starting off with a dream podium on debut at his home round in Newcastle.
However, after graduating from a Holden Commodore VF to a Nissan Altima mid-season, Gilroy’s 2023 season came to an abrupt end during practice at Bathurst.
A heavy hit over the top of the mountain left the Singleton product with lingering concussion symptoms that threatened to end his young career.
“I raced with the team last year and obviously I had my accident at Bathurst. It was a bit touch-and-go, whether I was going to come back to racing this year or not,” admitted the 22-year-old to Supercars.com.
However, when AIM Motorsport’s team leader Zane Morse broke his wrist in between the opening round at Bathurst and Perth, Gilroy got the call to make his racing return.
“I'd heard about Zane’s injury, obviously it was pretty unfortunate. I was pretty devastated to hear about it, because you don't want to see a fellow driver and a fellow teammate miss out like that.
“But, it was nice for AIM to give me the call and give me this opportunity this weekend.”
The plum drive, behind the wheel of an ex-Cam Waters Tickford Mustang, proved too good to refuse for Gilroy, who has been relishing the chance to drive a competitive car in Super2.
“It's a great car to drive. Just kind of blown away with the differences between the Super3 and the Super2 cars.
“AIM's done a fantastic job of preparing the car, and we've had a faultless weekend so far.”
Asked about whether he feels as though this is a second chance, Gilroy admitted he did feel as though this was a big opportunity, however tempered expectations.
“I think so, yeah," he said when asked about this weekend being a second chance.
"I think it's just good to get back in and step up and just build the confidence up. We're just going to keep chipping away this weekend and hopefully come Sunday, we're right where we want to be.”
Whilst Gilroy knows that this weekend is a great opportunity to showcase his capabilities to any potential future employers in the Dunlop Series, there are no plans to compete in any other rounds this season.
“At the moment, not totally sure. Whatever comes, comes. But for right now, I'm just going to focus on this weekend and enjoy it.”
Gilroy will make his first Dunlop Series start since Sandown last September later this afternoon when he starts the first race in Perth from 23rd.
Race 1 begins at 2:20pm AWST/4:20pm AEST.
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