Costello / Hauxwell Enjoy their First Outing as a Team
Maria Costello MBE and Kirsty Hauxwell enjoyed the racing action at the Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship.
Costello / Hauxwell were at Knockhill, Scotland, for the third round of the championship.
The pair, who are the first all-female British F2 sidecar racing team to compete at this level, were pleased to qualifiy on Friday and took to the track for their first race on Saturday.
The race was red flagged early on due to an oil spill but was restarted shortly afterwards and Costello-Hauxwell finished 7th in class and 20th overall.
Maria said: “Neither of us has raced at Knockhill, but we’ve enjoyed learning the technical Knockhill circuit with each session on track and continued to build our confidence as a newly acquainted team, so to make the grid and start and finish three races in our first weekend is a brilliant step in the right direction.”
Costello-Hauxwell went on to finish 9th in class (22nd overall) and 8th in class (23rd place overall) in the second and third races.
Maria continued: “It’s a new challenge and it’s a big one. We’ve jumped in at the deep end, taking on the best sidecar racers in the country, and we want to thank our sponsors for making this possible. This was our first bit of proper racing action at the Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship and I’m proud that we finished all three races.
“Kirsty is a brilliant passenger; she makes my job so much easier. We are building a great relationship on the bike with every lap we complete.”
Kirsty said: “It’s been a fantastic weekend. It’s been really good to try new set-up on the outfit and get out there together and race a new circuit. We want to improve each time we go out and we achieved that. I’ve certainly enjoyed it.”
Costello-Hauxwell will miss the next round of the championship in Snetterton as they have been invited to drive their sidecar up the hill at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed and will return to action for round five at Mallory Park on 9th July.
Notes to editors:
• Maria Costello is one of the most prominent women in motorcycle road racing and the only female motorcycle racer ever to be awarded an MBE.
• Maria was the first woman ever to claim a podium finish in a race around the notorious Isle of Man TT course.
• The 2016 race season has proved to be one of Maria’s best, securing the female lap record at the Vauxhall International Northwest 200, 12th place in the Isle of Man Lightweight TT race and a podium alongside her hero and 23 times TT winner, John McGuinness in the Isle of Man Senior Classic TT.
• Maria will carry on pursuing her solo career in 2017 as well as race with Kirsty Hauxwell under the banner of the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team in the Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship.
For media information contact:
Jez Ashberry
Director
Shooting Star
01522 528540
jez@weareshootingstar.co.uk
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