born in bromley, kent, gilham's first full season of racing – after previously competing as a cage fighter – 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.