Maria Costello MBE started her 2015 race competing down under at the Barry Sheene Festival of Speed at the Sydney Motorsports Park, riding a Suzuki XR69 for Mick Neason and a Honda VFR400 for Rob Francis.

Fortune didn’t favour Costello when it came to qualifying the XR69 as some mechanical issues forces it's retirement from the event. The Rob Francis VFR400 worked well with its newly fitted race exhaust and now 14kg lighter thanks to a total loss system. Only a gearing issue caused a slight hindrance in the initial sessions on track. With the correct gearing on the Honda Maria finished 4th in class and 8th overall in a large field of riders.

A smiling Costello, added:

“The XR69 is such a rewarding bike to race as they need a lot of input. I was gutted when it expired. I was struggling myself with jet-lag, spending just a week in Oz was maybe not my best idea.  The VFR400 is the type of bike I could ride all day long. Plus I love the Eastern Creek circuit. I can’t thank Rob and Mick enough and Mick and his mechanic, Billy, were such good sports.”

Costello took to the track again to ride parade laps along with former Grand Prix champion Freddie Spencer. This time on a BMW Motorrad Australia S 1000 RR kindly organised by Steve Steward and Procycles.

She said:

“What an honour to share the track with such a legend of the sport – he’s so humble and down to earth, it was great to be able to chat with someone who has been so influential in motorcycling. The crowd was out in force despite the light shower of rain and it was great to get my BMW fix whilst I was in Oz.”

Saturday evening saw both Costello and Freddie attend an event where both were interviewed by former MotoGP commentator Mark Bracks. And Maria continued her chat with Bracks when she joined him in the commentary box Sunday morning.

Sunday was a day for meeting and greeting the fans and Maria joined Freddie for more autograph signings as well as racing the VFR400 plus a Norton ES2 owned and supplied by Laurie Turnbull.

She beamed:

“What a bike! I love this class. I hadn’t tested this bike previously and realised pretty quickly that I couldn’t reach the brake lever properly, which made the hairpin corners interesting! It also featured Laurie’s preferred race shift pattern (I usually run a road shift gear pattern) and this cost me the chance of two places on the final lap when I went the wrong way on the gear shift and lost momentum. But it was still great fun and I can’t thank Laurie enough for this opportunity.”

A steering damper fitted to the VFR400 for the final race caused Costello alarm as she rode up pit-lane for the final 400 race.  A hasty stop at garage 30 where the mechanics frantically removed the item wasn’t quite fast enough and she had to start the race from pit-lane. The added adrenaline was  welcome to combat her jet-lag. Costello worked her way through the field to finish in an excellent 10th place overall.


“What a whirlwind this has been. I’ll get home and wonder if I dreamt it. But it has been so worth it I’ve loved every minute. The people here are so welcoming and make me feel so at home, their are many that I need to thank including, Peter and Janet MacMillan, the club, Jan, Alison, Sue and all the gang in the office, Mick, Rob and Laurie for the race bikes, Freddie Spencer for the amazing words of wisdom, and all the amazing spectators and fans.”


For more details on Maria’s racing and other activities, including upcoming events, track days and opportunities to support her racing efforts, please visit her website: http://www.costelloracing.com

To book a place on one of Maria’s ‘women only’ trackdays at Donington go to: http://www.nolimitstrackdays.com/womenonly


2015 Sponsors:

The European Shoe Machinery Company Ltd, Hol-Taj, BMW Motorrad UK, Wollaston BMW, Rock Oil, Arai, Pirelli, NGK spark plugs, Wilbers/Vmtek Suspension, Jap4Performance, Radicool, EBC Brakes, Kawasaki UK Ltd, GBRacing, Hideout Leathers, Premier Bodyworks, Knox, HEL, iDP Moto Ltd, CMB Motorsport, Racebikebitz/Samco hoses, Daytona boots, Pipercross, APC Wet Paint Ltd, CPL Print, Christian Baker, Trilogy Gyms, Jack Fleckney – CrossFit East Northants, DnG, Sparkes Management Support, Bespoke Injury Management, Progrips, Promach, Skidmarx, The Joseph’s Experience, http://www.tonicwebworks.com, CHI Fire Solutions Ltd, Stomp Grip & SKINS.