Maria Costello, the fastest woman to lap the Isle of Man TT course, completed a successful debut at the Southern 100 as the 7th 400 to cross the line and 15th overall in the combined 125cc/400cc race. This was the one and only race Maria got to compete in as the first race was scrapped along with all other races scheduled for the Wednesday evening when Ian Lougher fell off on the warm up lap. The wet conditions combined with new tarmac were blamed for the accident and the course was deemed unsafe.
“We had very short practice sessions so I was still learning the bumpy track in the race, I went another seven seconds faster than in practice, so two races would have been ideal for making a better impression on the results sheets, but I’ve enjoyed riding here and it’s been a perfect shake down of the Bering sponsored RLR400i” added Costello.
On paper Maria was competing directly with road racing legends such as Robert Dunlop, who won the race, Ian Lougher and circuit specialists Chris Palmer, Nigel Beattie and Darren Lindsay but the 125’s and 400’s were set off from separate grids with about a 10 second interval. So Maria’s race was all about beating the guys on 400’s and for her first time out on a real road on the RLR400i this season Maria produced a solid result.
“The bike is fantastic to ride, I got a good start, the bikes great off the line, but I couldn’t do any late breaking maneuvers at the first corner (Ballakeighan) as I was still working out my braking markers. But I did make the most of the bikes great handling and I stayed with John Burrows who’s been here before and passed him on lap three but making ground up on the others was tricky as they had pulled away only I could have done with another 4 laps! I can’t wait to race it again!” said Maria.
Ricky Leady, RLR Motorsports owner concludes, “Maria did a sterling job at the Southern and more importantly gave the 400i it’s first ever road race. Giving us valuable set up information in preparation for the Manx Grand Prix in August.”
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