Maria Costello and her sidecar passenger Kirsty Hauxwell took 4th in class in the final sidecar race at Aintree on Saturday, 15th July, earning silverware and recording the pair’s best finish yet as an all-female sidecar team.

The duo took advantage of a free weekend in the Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar Championship to attend the Ace of Aintree event, making the most of valuable track-time with their JG Speedfit / Cool Milk LCR sidecar outfit. Despite its being Hauxwell’s local track, racing at Aintree was a new experience for Maria, as was running on Avon’s wet tyres when wet weather predominated.

After a soggy practice and a wet first race, Costello and Hauxwell took the chequered flag with a remarkable 6th in class and 12th overall. The pair improved their lap time by over eight seconds as the day progressed, achieving an exemplary 4th in class in their final race.

A delighted Costello reflected on the day’s achievements: “It’s Kirsty’s home track and it has been great racing here and incredibly valuable to gain extra track-time in our debut season together. The heavy rain has actually given us valuable wet weather practice and our first ever wet race on the LCR on Avon wet tyres. We’re progressing along this steep learning curve every time we go out on track.

“Kirsty is a fantastic passenger and the results today reflect a great team effort. We’re also relieved that Kirsty’s dad, who crashed in our race, is OK.

“It's a fantastic fast and bumpy track – short but very technical, it reminds me of a real road race. Big thanks to our team, all the other competitors, the club and all who run the event, the marshals and medics and all the spectators, for a great day of racing. We’ve really enjoyed this and we even got trophies!”

Next on the calendar for Costello and Hauxwell is Round 6 of the Hyundai Heavy Industries British Sidecar championship at Brands Hatch this weekend – 21st to 23rd July -  running in conjunction with the British Superbike championship.

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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 Systems Ltd, Racing Batteries.