Three rides for Costello at Cookstown 100

According to the saying, all good things come in threes and that’s definitely the case for motorcycle racer Maria Costello MBE, who has three motorcycles to compete on at this weekend’s Cookstown 100 road races in Northern Ireland.

Former Isle of Man record holder Costello will have a full schedule of races at the road racing season opener, competing on her ESM/Hol-Taj backed Kawasaki ER6 Supertwin and two bikes from the Bob Wylie Racing stable; a Honda NSF250 Moto3 in the 125/Moto3 race and the new Triumph 675R in the Supersport races.

The Northamptonshire based racer has worked hard during the off season, not only to get all her machines and logistics in order, but to overcome a broken femur she sustained in a racing incident at the end of last season. 

Determined to be fighting fit for the start of the season, Maria underwent a relentless rehab, gym and swimming regime and thanks to her self-belief and her dedicated support team of Dallington Fitness, Trilogy gyms, Joe Power Personal Training, Bespoke Injury Management, Physiotherapists Barry Goudriaan and Scott Physio and the Isle of Man Hyperbaric Chamber, she is more than ready to take on the challenge of a real road race.

Landing the deal to ride for Bob Wylie added more motivation to her recovery and Maria has already competed on the Moto3 bike at a cold Kirkistown on the Easter Bank Holiday Monday and tested the Triumph 675R for the first time last week, before having a run out on her ‘pizza race bike’ Supertwin at a Silverstone track day on Sunday.

Costello said:

‘My fitness support team are the tip of the iceberg. Without them I wouldn’t be fit to race, but without the fantastic backing from my new and existing sponsors, such as the Kettering based engineering company The European Shoe Machinery Co. and Earl’s Barton’s Hol-Taj, I couldn’t go racing. I’m eternally grateful to these people and work hard to give them a return.’

General Manager of Dallington Fitness Leisure & Wellbeing Club, Maria De Chiara commented: ‘We are delighted to support Maria, a local sports person and one of the UK’s leading female motorcyclists. She is a great role model for other women in any sport and a credit to our club. We wish her every success.’

Owner of ESM, Roberto Petrozzi added: ‘ESM began supporting Maria last season and wanted to continue, as her professionalism and determination impressed us and she also acts as a great ambassador for our brand when she is promoting engineering in her role as a STEM Ambassador. We hope to see her reach her goals this season.’

Costello added: 'With all of this excellent support, I’m looking forward to a fantastic year and a great race season.'

Practice and qualifying for the Cookstown 100 commences on Friday 26th April, with a full day of racing on Saturday 27th April. Visit the website here: www.cookstown100.com 

For all the latest news and updates on Maria’s progress please go to www.costelloracing.com and for more information about any of Maria sponsors please go to: http://www.costelloracing.com/sponsors.html

Image by www.beckphotographic.com