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 and most experienced 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's next event will see them drive their sidecar up the hill at the prestigious Goodwood Festival of Speed and they will return to action for round five at Mallory Park on 9th July.

---

Follow her progress via her website at http://www.costelloracing.com on Twitter @MariaCostello and Facebook MariaCostelloRacing

2017 Sponsors: JG Speedfit, Cool Milk, NGK Spark Plugs, Bike Shed, AEJ Management, AVON tyres, Rock Oil, CPL Print, Knox, Arai, Nitron Suspension, Mac Tools, Pagid, Radicool, Pro-Bolt, Proline Finishers, Signs2Wraps, Jap4Performance, Premier Bodyworks, Pro Grip, Gear leathers, Arai, Knox, Hel Performance, Hello Market, Bournemouth Kawasaki, Translogic.