Bruising Weekend at Croft!

The Salford Van Hire, Pecometer, HMS Haulage, Mintech Spares UK, JB Data Engineering, FUCHS UK, Bowker MINI, North Coat Ltd, Umbra Security Group LTD, The Honda Specialist and McGowan Transcriptions supported driver unfortunately endured a difficult weekend at Croft but once again showed her grit and determination to salvage valuable championship points.

The weekend began in a positive way with Ashley and her team racking up plenty of mileage during practice, building a good foundation ahead of qualifying on Saturday. Qualifying took place on a drying track and Ashley went into the session looking for a strong result but was not able to find a tow and had to settle for 14th, although this was just one second off the pole position time.

The first race took place later that day in dry conditions. Ashley lost a couple of places off the line but fought back to retain her starting position and then moved her way past three more rivals, to just miss out on a top 10 result in the first 12 lap dash of the weekend

The weather on Sunday was very different, with torrential rain, but the enthusiastic fans turned out and provided a great atmosphere for race day. For Ashley though, the day went haywire following a technical inspection by the championship organisers who accidentally locked the Traction Control System which enabled the ABS warning light. With just 10 minutes until the first race, the problem could not be solved. Ashley took the start but immediately fell back to 16th position, handicapped by the technical gremlins. However, her will to keep pushing on meant she kept her consistent run of points finishes alive.

Ahead of the final race of the weekend, Ashley’s mechanics did everything they could to fix the problem but to no avail. This meant that the Gianluca Photography, GymSafe Security, DJB Business Finance, Maybrook Fleet Care, Millennium Supplies LTD, Glass Assist UK, Whiting and Wilson Jewellers, Crossbar Marketing and Toxic Nation driver had to go into damage control mode. After a clean start, in which Ashley moved up from 14th to 13th, the 19 year old had to deal with another technical problem, this time a cracked steering rack. Ashley used all of her race craft to be able to hang onto the position until a red flag was thrown with just 3 minutes to go. The restart spelled bad news for Ashley as she struggled to pull away and contact meant her hard work was undone and she limped across the line in 15th place, but this was enough to improve her position in the championship standings and move up from 13th to 12th.

The weather on Sunday was very different, with torrential rain, but the enthusiastic fans turned out and provided a great atmosphere for race day. For Ashley though, the day went haywire following a technical

"I’m pretty speechless about this weekend to be honest. On Friday it really looked like we were onto something good with the car setup as we matched the pole time from last year but that unfortunately faded away from Saturday onwards. Qualifying just didn’t work out - not getting a tow really hurt us but I was still focused and determined to fight for a good result.

The racing over the weekend might not have gone to plan but it was an amazing weekend with regards to the spectators that turned out to see us race and the people who came to see me at the autograph session. It proved to be a valuable weekend commercially as well, taking part in a couple of interviews and also doing a special race between me in the MINI safety car and National League TV Commentator & Sports Presenter, Ian Waterhouse as part of his horsepower vs manpower challenge. A unique experience for sure!”

Jonathan Rogan for Bowker MINI said: “We are thrilled to support a young talent like Ashley. It’s important that Lancashire encourages young people with such a passion for motorsport in the county. Ashley has already enjoyed enviable success. We look forward to seeing more podiums and trophies this season. We are proud to be part of Ashley’s journey.”

The penultimate round of the MINI Challenge UK Trophy season will see Ashley race on a BTCC weekend once again as the series moves on to Silverstone on 21-22 September and will be broadcast live on ITV4.