It was an early exit from the Vauxhall International Northwest 200 for Maria Costello MBE, but the injury she sustained crashing out of Thursday's Supersport practice will not prevent her participation in the Isle of Man TT Races.

Costello had shone in Northwest 200 qualifying for the Supertwin category on her ESM/Hol-Taj Kawasaki ER6 'Pizza race bike', prepared by IDP Moto Ltd. Lapping at 99.815mph in the first session and improving that by six seconds in the final qualifying session, her eventual 101.817mph lap would have placed her a respectable 16th place on the grid in a competitive field. But crashing out of Supersport qualifying, resulting in a small injury, ruled her out of any racing.

A small mistake on the entry to the final chicane resulted in a high-side where both rider and machine became airborne. Maria initially walked away from the incident, seemingly uninjured, but a routine x-ray revealed a slight crack in the small bone in her leg, forcing an immediate end to the Northamptonshire racer's Northwest 200 campaign.

“I don't go near kerbs. You'll not see photographs of me doing anything heroic. But the camera on the path caught my eye and the bike went where I was looking. I clipped the kerb and I was airborne before I knew it. The marshals and medics were fantastic, as were the staff at Coleraine Hospital. My mechanics had almost fixed the bike when I was told I wasn't going to be able to race.” explained Costello.

“I'm so gutted that I couldn't repay everyone's amazing hospitality, and the overwhelming support I get from all the fans at the Northwest, with some racing. But I've had to return home for medical treatment so that I can get back racing as soon as possible and I'll be back next year to put things right. Special thanks to my team of Gareth Roberts and Craig Pryor. To IDP Moto for the pre race prep and Tyco Suzuki's Dave Cortese. Big thanks to the organisers and all those who sent get well messages or came to wish me well.” added Maria.

Costello, who arrived home to receive instant treatment from Bespoke Injury Management (one of her support team), is already making great progress - as confirmed by another examination by her own Doctor and Maria will be at the Isle of Man TT event from the 24th May 2014.

“The TT is one of the highlights of my season and I've got a great team of people working on my injury and I'll receive Hyperbaric Chamber treatment and therapy from Scott Physio once I'm on the Isle of Man. With that and the all clear from my Doctor, I'm really excited about competing on my pizza race bike Supertwin.”

“Finally, I would like to wish Franck Petricola a speedy recovery and extend my most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Simon Andrews. He will be missed but never forgotten.” concluded Costello.


To follow Maria, please visit her website at http://www.costelloracing.com.





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