Marshall marks race return with top-five finishes at Oulton Park

ISSUE NO. 3

Ashley Marshall scored a pair of strong top-five finishes in the Ginetta GT5 Challenge at Oulton Park last weekend as he returned to full-time motor racing for the first time in almost two years.

The 25-year-old from Bridlington had only competed once since September 2018, but proved he’d lost none of his undoubted talent as he made his debut with new team Fox Motorsport at the Cheshire track.

Fifth in Saturday morning’s qualifying session, he was only five hundredths of a second away from setting the fastest lap in Race One, but his ability to move forward from his grid spot was curtailed by an early incident that forced much of the race to be run at slow speed behind the safety car.

Bogging down at the start of Race Two and dropping to 12th, he did well to recover to eighth spot by the finish, and another bad getaway on Sunday afternoon – this time caused by excess wheelspin – pushed him back to 13th by the second corner.

The Kitchenmeister-supported racer was in a determined mood however, recovering superbly in the 15-minute race and making a series of impressive and emphatic overtaking moves as he picked his way through the pack.

In the final race, he carved his way up to fifth place by the chequered flag, just two seconds away from a podium spot. He is sixth in the Drivers’ Championship as he begins preparations for the next round – also at Oulton Park.

Ashley said: “I have mixed feelings on the weekend. My target was to finish every race of the season inside the top five and give myself the best possible chance of winning the championship, and I genuinely feel a podium was a realistic in Race One before we ran most of it behind the safety car. I hadn’t qualified well for Races Two and Three and I made bad starts both times, so I was in recovery mode, but the race pace – especially at the end of Sunday – was very strong, in spite of blistering my hand because the gears weren’t shifting cleanly. I’m content because I hadn’t driven the car since March, so naturally I’d have been a bit rusty, but I know there’s a lot more to come and that gives me a lot of confidence for the upcoming rounds.”

MARSHALL RETURNS FOR 2019 GT5 CHALLENGE SEASON WITH MERLIN INTERNATIONAL

ISSUE No. 2

After a long 9 months out of the driver’s seat, Ashley Marshall has finally returned to the Ginetta GT5 Challenge with Merlin International. Qualifying 12th, after only entering the competition merely days beforehand, the Yorkshireman continued to improve his lap times with every race and bagged the 2nd fastest lap of Race 3.

Marshall’s new team, Merlin International. (2019)

This spontaneous entry prompted a last minute test. Unfortunately, due to technical issues, Marshall was unable to get many laps in during his session. He then went into qualifying blind after adjustments were made to the car following the test.

Regardless of this setback, Marshall qualified P12. In Race 1, with a new clutch and no opportunity to practice a race start, he dropped 10 places before the first corner. The addition of a safety car during this race meant that he couldn’t progress and finished P18.

New rules implemented this year state that the grid for Race 2 is now laid out according to the drivers’ second fastest lap of the qualification stage; which placed Marshall P12 once again. Marshall improved his lap times with every lap but another safety car stumped his chances of progression.

Starting P12 again for Race 3, Marshall’s pace quickened even more and he bagged the 2nd fastest lap of the third race. Another safety car meant there wasn’t much time to make up places.

Ashley Marshall (middle left) with Merlin International founder, Jonny Milner (left), fellow GT5 driver Katie Milner (middle right) and the 2003 24 Hour Le Mans winner Guy Smith (right) during a recreational karting day in June 2019.

Marshall’s comments on the weekend were as follows:

After being out of the car for such a long time, it’s fair to say I’m quite pleased with the results of the weekend; and working with everyone at Merlin [International] has been fantastic. They’ve made me feel very welcome. (2019)

It is the Yorkshireman’s intentions to continue testing and fight for podiums for the rest of the season. He will continue to train, under the instruction of his personal trainer and nutritionist, Charlie Webster, to prepare for the season ahead.

MARSHALL ACHIEVES MAIDEN PODIUM AT DONINGTON PARK

ISSUE No. 1

Following the most challenging season of his career to date, Ashley Marshall placed 2nd in the season finale at Donington Park.

Due to complications in qualifying, Marshall qualified in 28th place. The Yorkshireman’s hopes for a podium in 2018 seemed slim. In race one on Sunday 23rd, Marshall narrowly missed a catastrophic crash ahead of him and worked up to 14th place in the opening lap, finishing the race in 10th place.

Marshall gained the race advantage by placing P1 thanks to a top 10 reverse grid. He was able to maintain his lead until the penultimate corner of the last lap; where 2015 & 2018 championship winner, James Kellett, passed him on the inside and claimed 1st place by 0.289 of a second.

Ashley Marshall, James Kellett and Max Bird on the podium at Donington Park Race Circuit. Photography by Jakob Ebrey Photography.

Marshall posted onto his Instagram and Facebook page saying:

“I can’t thank my team and all of my supporters enough. It’s been the hardest season of my career so far and it’s been a huge test to me mentally, but to finally get my maiden podium feels so good”.

Marshall is now well underway with preparations for the 2019 season. He is highly motivated for the first race back at one of his favourite tracks on the GT5 Challenge calendar, Oulton Park, in April.