Maria jumps Ballacrye on the Beugger Paton - image by Burgos Pics

Maria Costello returns to the Isle of Man for the Classic TT looking for more success onboard the Beugger Racing Paton 500 following last year's disappointment at being forced to retire while in second place.

Costello, who finished third on the Paton in 2016, will start this year’s Senior Classic TT from seventh place onboard the immaculately prepared Beugger Racing 500cc Paton owned by Swiss husband and wife team Peter & Barbara Beugger.

Maria will also be competing in the Junior Classic TT on a 350cc CSC Drixton Honda for Steve Caffyn. The six-speed bike has enjoyed a top-12 finish in recent years and Maria will also be start number seven on this machine.

The Northamptonshire racer is the only female to be seeded in the top 20 for both of these races and is looking forward to practice starting on Saturday 17th August.

Costello has a long and proud history at the Isle of Man, having held the fastest female lap record at the TT for five years, she was also the first female solo racer in the island’s history to claim a podium place when she took third in the Ultra Lightweight category at the 2005 Manx Grand Prix.

The podium finish alongside her hero and 23 times TT winner, John McGuinness, in the 2016 Isle of Man Senior Classic TT was a real highlight and this year she made history by becoming the first woman to race both a sidecar and a solo not only at the same TT races but on the same day.

She said:

“This event has come to mean a huge amount to me not just because of the success I’ve had here but because of the wonderful people, atmosphere and fantastic machinery I get to compete on.

“Riding for the Beuggers is always a real pleasure & they even organised for me to test the bike earlier on this season after Peter made some more developments to the bike. They travel all the way from Switzerland every year, allowing me to compete on their beautiful bike, I can’t thank them enough and I hope I can repay them with a strong finish this time.

“Steve Caffyn played a big part in me finding my mojo after injury many years back when he supported me with an R6 Yamaha at the Manx GP so I’m really happy to be back riding for him again. I feel super fortunate & grateful to be riding for both these teams this year.

“I hope the weather is kind and the organisers can secure enough marshals for practice to start on Saturday. If anyone is over and would like to help by being a marshal, you don’t need to have done it before, please go to http://www.iomttmarshals.com

This season has been one of tremendous highs but I’m hoping that the best is yet to come here at the Classic.”

The Senior Classic TT gets underway on Saturday 24th August with the Junior Classic taking place on Monday 26th, for more details go to http://www.iomttraces.com/classic



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For the latest news on Costello, including sponsorship opportunities, track days for women and other events, please visit her website at www.costelloracing.com.