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Maria Costello MBE makes history again
taking a dramatic third place in the 350cc
Motorsports Merchandise race at Manx Grand Prix
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Bio
Name: Maria Costello
Nickname: Elvis
Age: 31
DOB: 9/06/77
Star Sign: Gemini
Hair Colour: Blonde
Eye Colour: Green
Height: 5'5"
Weight: 55kg
Marital Status: Single
Place of Origin: Spratton, Northampton
Occupation: Motorcycle Racer – Journalist/TV
presenter – Stunt/Rider Double - After Dinner
Speaker. Used to be a Veterinary Nurse and a CBT
instructor.
Hobbies: Cycling and mountain biking, training,
going to Hope&Social gigs, horse riding and
swimming.
Favourite Food: Lobster.
Favourite Drink: Water.
Alcoholic Drink: Champagne.
Favourite Film: Ferris Buellers Day Off.
Favourite Music: Goldfrapp, Green day, The Eagles,
Hope&Social, AIR, Foo Fighters, Jose Gonzalez
in fact almost anything.
Favourite Car: Aston Martin, Porsche.
Favourite Bike: Ducati 1098S
Race Bike: Triumph Daytona 675 and Honda
RVF400.
Worst Crash: 1999, Proddie 1000 TT (Bray Hill) and
2000, British Superstock, Silverstone.
Racing Hero: Steve Hislop & David
Jefferies.
Ambition in Life: To stay happy.
2004 Ambition: Fastest Woman ever at TT - did
it!
2008 Aims: Win the Manx, podium at the NW200, race
at a 24hr race and at Macau.
Guinness World Record
holder Maria Costello is the fastest woman to lap
the Isle of Man TT course [2004 Production TT
Race – Padgett’s Suzuki GSXR750 K2].
Maria also went on to finish third in the Ultra
Lightweight Race at the 2005 Manx Grand Prix. This
placed her in the history books as the first woman
solo racer to ever stand on the podium at a race
around the TT course [RLR Motorsports Honda
RVF400].
Maria is a determined,
self driven individual who found motorcycling
racing by accident almost 11 years ago. Since then
she has dedicated herself to the sport becoming a
skilful and successful athlete.
Her illustrious career has
taken her across Europe racing in some of the
Worlds most prestigious events including European
Superstock races, supporting World Superbike
meetings in Italy and Germany, the British
Superstock Championship, the Honda CB500 Cup
Championship and much more. Her passion for
‘Real Road Racing’ grew after being
introduced to the Isle of Man by the former fastest
woman to lap the TT course Sandra Barnett when she
became part of an all female racing team.
Maria’s success on
track has been mirrored off it, when she won the
Northamptonshire Sports Personality of the Year
Award in 2005 beating the counties regular sports
greats from football, rugby and cricket. This
honour also lead to her being nominated for the BBC
East Midlands Sports Personality of the Year where
she went up against the likes of Dame Ellen
McArthur.
In addition, Maria is an
athlete and in her role as a Sporting Champion she
visit schools and communities with her race bikes
inspiring and motivating people to participate in
sport and promote a healthy lifestyle. She is also
a patron for the Women's Sports Foundation and has
written and appeared in their magazine Women in
Sport and been a speaker at their
conferences.
Her confidence with the
media has enabled her to carve out a striking and
unique image which has lead to her being the focus
of many TV programmes. She has also been a
presenter and panellist on TV and more recently
stunt doubled for Reese Witherspoon in a
multimillion pound movie called
‘Penelope’.
Her passion of two wheels
is evident in her written work making Maria an
exciting contributor to the motorcycle press. She
is a published author in the Used Bike Guide and
has written for the UK's No1 motorcycle publication
MCN, as well as for Irish Racer, Motorcycle Racer
and appears on road tests for MCN and Ride
Magazine.
Maria supports many
charities both in and outside of the world of
motorcycling. Participating in many events to raise
awareness of each charity and is a proud patron for
Riders for Health and MENCAP, for which she was the
lead figure in the promotion of the National Rally
2006.
Maria’s natural
talent as an athlete coupled with an unwavering
desire for success underlines her ambition to
challenge for titles at the top of her sport.
Snippets
Mechical Failure takes Podium from Maria Costello
* * *
Maria Costello – Queen of Bikers by
Maria Costello and Steve Pitts Published by Pennant
Books, May 2010
* * *
Two of Northamptonshire’s most noted sports
personalities are joining forces to form an
exciting new motorcycle race team for 2009 –
Costello Redmond Racing. Motorcycle racer Maria
Costello and former 400m World and European
Champion runner Derek Redmond will head up a team
of ten riders to compete in the Hottrax Endurance
Championship.
News
Maria Costello
MBE makes history again taking a dramatic
third place in the 350cc Motorsports Merchandise
race at Manx Grand Prix
Maria Costello MBE, made history by becoming the
first woman to achieve two podium finishes on the
mountain course by taking third place, with a
dramatic push to the finish, in Monday’s
Motorsport Merchandise 250cc race.
Racing a Bob Jackson Suzuki T20 two-stroke for
the first time around the TT course, Maria set off
from number 64 on the road and despite encountering
traffic as early as on as Quarterbridge she was
lying in fourth place, only 3 seconds back on third
place.
Bob Jackson’s strategy to pit for fuel on
lap three saw Maria move in to first place with a
lead of almost 9 seconds from Barry Davidson with
Peter Wakefield a further 4 seconds back in
third.
Costello added: ‘Getting a board at Sulby
Bridge with P1 on it put a massive smile on my
face. I knew it would change once the others came
out of their pit-stops. But it was a great strategy
by Bob Jackson, especially with such wet and misty
conditions the race could easily have been stopped
early. ‘
With Costello coming into the pits to refuel at
the end of lap 3, Barry Davidson moved back into
the lead with a 21 second ahead of Peter Wakefield
in second. The Bob Jackson team did a great
pit-stop and Maria was pushed off by Graeme Crosby
– Daytona 200, Imola 200, Suzuka 8 Hours, and
Isle of Man TT winner, and rejoined the race in
third place.
The chequered flag was out and Barry Davidson
took the honours with a race time of 1:42.30.89
from Peter Wakefield (1:43.08.50) in second but
there was drama unfolding for the final podium
position.
Costello, who was the first woman solo
competitor to achieve a podium on the mountain
course in 2006, having closed the gap to 7 seconds
in third place by the Bungalow, was reported to be
stopping at Governors Dip.
The battery on the T20 had failed and the bike
had stopped. Maria, without knowing that she had
almost six minutes on the next rider in fourth
place, paddled the bike out of the dip and then,
with the chequered flag in view, pushed the bike to
the finish line to take third place in a time of
1:47.31.88.
‘I thought third place was lost but I was
determined to get a finish for Bob Jackson &
the team and I was sure that you could push in, so
I set off towards the finish line. Bob, Allan &
Brenda have worked so hard to get the bike ready
for the Manx so I wanted to repay them. I consider
myself physically fit but I was looking down at my
legs and willing them to keep going, I was running
on empty. Huge thanks to Bob Jackson for putting
together a fantastic little machine, other than the
battery failure she pulled like a train, had a
silky smooth gear-box and never put a foot wrong.
Allan for giving me more than enough fuel to
finish, Brenda for all the support, Paul for help
in the pit-stop, Granty for suspension set-up &
Crosby for the push out the pits – we made
history.’
An exhausted yet delighted Costello could hardly
believe that after pushing the T20 a distance of
almost 500 metres, she had still finished in third
place and would be on the podium at a Manx Grand
Prix for the second time in her racing career.
Maria will be competing again on Friday aboard
the Steve Wheatman Team Classic Suzuki XR69 in the
Manx Grand Prix Classic Superbike race.
For further editorial information or a full set
of results go to www.mgpfestival.com
Mechical Failure takes
Podium from Maria Costello
The Northampton racer followed up her recent
record-busting performance at the Ulster Grand Prix
to finish within a whisker of third place in the
Manx Grand Prix Senior Post Classic race on the
Isle of Man on Monday.
The former Isle of Man TT female lap record
holder was riding superbly in third place and was
set for another podium finish when the steering
damper of her Suzuki XR69 snapped off forcing her
to reduce her speed.
However, despite the damper failure Costello was
thrilled to have ridden so well in a race won by
Michael Dunlop in a record time of one hour 18
minutes 6.23 seconds. Costello had entered the last
lap behind Dunlop and runner-up Michael Buckley
dreaming of her second Isle of Man podium following
her 2005 third place in the ultra lightweight
category. But the snapped steering damper meant her
final lap time of 22mins 46.13 seconds was not
enough to prevent Geoff Martin and Chris McGahan
overtaking her.
“I’d not even considered a place on
the podium, so when I saw the boards around the
course with ‘3’ on them it was like,
‘me, third?’,” said Costello, who
will be signing copies of her autobiography, Queen
Of Bikers, at the Northampton branch of Waterstones
later this month.
“Of course it was disappointing to lose out
on the podium because of a problem beyond my
control, but I’m still over the moon that I
managed to get the big old Suzuki back across the
finish line without a steering damper.
“The Suzuki has been a real challenge to
ride but I’ve had an amazing Manx Grand Prix
and I’m looking forward to returning next year
on another Post Classic machine. I can’t thank
the ‘dream team’ of Steve Wheatman
[owner of the Suzuki XR69], Jon Sims
[who built it], Mick Grant [TT legend
and my mentor] and Paul Boulton [top
spanner man] enough. This Manx Grand Prix has
been one of the best experiences of my
life.”
Results
2007
ISLE OF MAN MANX GRAND
PRIX Still recovering from the worst injuries of
her career Maria still wanted to return to the MGP
to compete in both the Junior onboard her BERING
Honda CBR600RR and in the Ultra Lightweight on her
BERING RVF400. Overcoming her crash demons in the
process. Maria remains the fastest woman to lap the
Isle of Man TT course.
COCK ‘O’ THE
NORTH ROAD RACES – OLIVER’S MOUNT Maria
had mixed fortunes during her debut at
Scarborough’s Oliver’s Mount. As a
mechanical failure forced her to retire whilst in a
commendable 7th place on her BERING Honda
RVF400.
2006
WORLD ENDURANCE TEST
– LE MANS, FRANCE Maria tested for a place in
the SUD Endurance 84 team on one of their Suzuki
GSXR1000’s beside team owner Luigi and top
French female racer Fabienne Migout (the flying
piglet).
NORTH WEST 200 Injury
forced Maria to sit out this year’s Irish
event although she was still invited to attend by
Ulster TV and presented a live link after Thursday
night’s practice session as well as doing
other PR events for the organisers.
EMRA 1300 Open Races 5th
on her BERING CBR600RR in the 1300 open class. Not
bad considering it was Maria’s first time out
after having a bone graft and metal plate fitted to
repair her broken collar bone.
Derby Phoenix 2 Day
Meeting Snetterton Best finish of 9th place in the
fiercely contested 600SS class.
SOUTHERN 100 Road Races,
Billown Circuit IoM Maria competed against TT
legends such as Robert Dunlop and Chris Palmer at
her S100 debut. And had a successful meeting at the
very demanding Billown road circuit finishing as
the 7th 400 to cross the line and placed 15th
overall in the combined 125/400 race.
ISLE OF MAN MANX GRAND
PRIX Maria suffered the worst injuries of her
racing career when she came off at Kepple Gate on
oil left by a previous crash just moments earlier.
This resulted in an operation and a two week stay
in the IoM Nobles Hospital. Maria will continue to
race in 2007 despite this unforeseen set
back.
2005
Maria made history by
becoming the first female solo racer to stand on
the podium at the Isle of Man Manx Grand
Prix
Isle of Man Manx Grand
Prix Maria made history books once again at the
Isle of Man when she took third place in the Ultra
Lightweight category of the 2005 Manx GP. On board
an RLR Motorsports Honda RVF400, provided by Tim
Bradley, Maria became the first ever woman in
history to take a podium finish in either a TT or
Manx GP.
NORTH WEST 200 In her
debut appearance at the Irish Road Race Maria was
the third 400 to cross the finishing line onboard
the RLR Motorsports Honda RVF400. Placing her, in
the joint 125cc/400cc race, 7th overall. She also
raced in both 600cc classes on her Bering Honda
CBR600RR.
2004
Maria became the outright
fastest woman to lap the TT course and
collected a Guinnes World Record in the
process.
Schedule
www.costelloracing.com/content/view/6/52
(disconnected)
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