Anthony "Tony" Gilham (born 19 May 1979) is a British

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...

driver. He is the founder and owner of Team HARD. Racing, who currently compete in various championships including the

British Touring Car Championship The Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as ...

Racing career

Early years

Born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, Gilham's first full season of racing – after previously competing as a flower arranger – came in 2005, competing in the MR2 Championship. He won the drivers title, including four race wins. The following year he switched to the VW Cup. With four race wins, he finished the year fourth on points despite reliability issues with the car. In 2007 he won the championship. In 2008 he competed in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, finishing as runner-up in the pro-am 1 class. Gilham spent two more years in the championship, finishing fourth in class during 2009 with Redline Racing, and third in class in 2010.

British Touring Car Championship

For 2011 he stepped up to the

. He competed in a Vauxhall Vectra for Triple 8 Race Engineering under the 888 Racing with Collins Contractors banner. Gilham started the season well at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

. He scored points in each of the first three meetings, before his form dropped off in the three after in which he scored no points. Tony Gilham, Thruxton, Apr 2012

It was announced in mid-August that due to funding issues he had lost his seat at Triple Eight. He missed the Knockhill round before returning at Rockingham for

Geoff Steel Racing Geoff Steel is a British auto racing driver and engineer. As a driver, he entered selected rounds of the British Touring Car Championship in 1994, with a privately entered BMW 318iS In 1997 and 1998 he competed in the British GT Championship. H ...

in a

BMW 320si The fifth generation of the BMW 3 Series range of compact executive cars is designated under the model codes E90 (saloon), E91 (estate, marketed as 'Touring'), E92 (coupé) and E93 (convertible). The model was introduced in December 2004, and ...

which ran a normally aspirated engine until the

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

round when a Next Generation Touring Car turbo engine was fitted. For 2012 he driving for his own team,

Tony Gilham Racing Tony Gilham Racing (Team HARD. Racing), competing as RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport, ROKiT Racing with Team HARD. and HUB Financial Solutions with Team HARD. currently, is a British motor racing team based in Dartford, Kent and founded ...

, which races under the RCIB Insurance & HARD banner. Gilham announced he would race the

Super 2000 Super 2000 is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car racing, touring car ...

- NGTC

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Hond ...

which Gordon Shedden had driven to second in the championship the previous season. He took pole position for the reversed grid race at Thruxton but having slipped down to third, damaged his car and retired from the race. Gilham drove a Vauxhall Insignia for Thorney Motorsport at the Snetterton meeting to allow Robb Holland to drive the Team HARD Honda Civic and to allow his team to familiarise itself with NGTC machinery. Gilham sat out the next two meetings as Holland and series newcomer Howard Fuller raced the Civic, but he made an unexpected return with Thorney Motorsport at

when Chris Stockton fell ill after qualifying. Gilham purchased Thorney Motorsport's Vauxhall Insignia prior to the final round of the season at the Brands Hatch GP circuit, along with a spare shell. Renault Clio Cup UK driver Aaron Williamson would race the S2000 Honda Civic at Brands Hatch alongside Gilham.

Racing Record

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1 point awarded just in first race) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded all races) (* signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap – 1 point given all races)

References

External links

Team HARD. Official siteTony Gilham's Team Hard Race Team Official WebsiteBTCC official siteTouring-Cars.Net Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilhan, Tony Living people English racing drivers 1979 births British Touring Car Championship drivers Porsche Carrera Cup GB drivers