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.