He was there at the very first Newcastle 500 dreaming of racing around the street circuit in a Toyota 86 or an Aussie Car.
Singleton’s Ryan Gilroy never expected to be racing around it in a supercar, and he’s still pinching himself that this weekend that is exactly what he gets to do.
The 21-year-old is racing in the Dunlop Super 3 series after previously racing in the Toyota 86 support races at the Supercars championship events.
Ryan unveiled his car earlier this week with his sponsors, friends, family and the local community and said without local businesses such as Bowers Heavy Haulage, Nutrition Hunter and the bank of mum and dad, he wouldn’t be where he is now.
“I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, there were so many people from the Hunter and Singleton who all came out to support me so I was blown away by it.
“I’ve got such a great network of sponsors this year and it is ever-growing so I am forever in their debt, and to mum and dad as well. The bank of mum and dad is what gets you started, and friends and family and the support from the Hunter has been unbelievable.
“The car is really good, the guys and girls at AIM Motorsport have delivered me a really good package this year. It’s completely different testing at Winton and then going to a street track like Newcastle but I’m confident in the package that we’ve got. We won’t really know until we roll out onto the track,” he said.
Ryan said he’s still pinching himself.
“It’s unbelievable. I was there for the very first event in 2017 and I always wanted to race here,
“I thought that maybe I would race here in a little Aussie Car or an ’86 or something but never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be making my debut and be racing at Newcastle in a supercar. So its going to be unbelievable.”
Driving a Commodore VF under AIM Motorsport, Ryan has his first practice race at 10.10am on Friday and another at midday. Tomorrow he has the qualifying race for Race 1 and on Sunday qualifying and Race 2.
Novocastrian driver Charlotte Poynting is just as excited.
The 21-year-old is racing in the Aussie Racing Car Series – she is the only female driver out of the 40 cars which will be on the grid across the weekend.
