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Taws has action-packed weekend at Shannonville

July 23, 2001 Ashley Taws, the driver of the "Be Anything With Barbie" Formula 1200 race car finished fifth and eighth in a pair of races held yesterday at Shannonville Motorsport Park near Bellville, Ontario. The seventeen-year-old racer claimed ...

Edited: Apr 15, 2002, 11:45 PM

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July 23, 2001

Ashley Taws, the driver of the "Be Anything With Barbie" Formula 1200 race car finished fifth and eighth in a pair of races held yesterday at Shannonville Motorsport Park near Bellville, Ontario. The seventeen-year-old racer claimed these respectable finishes despite a couple of major setbacks during the event.

Ashley's troubles at the track began on Saturday during a timed qualifying session when she was called on a blend-line infraction (when exiting the pitlane, her car crossed a line running alongside the track). Officials imposed a very stiff penalty, disallowing her lap times for the entire session and forcing her to start the first of Sunday's two races from the back of the pack.

Starting from eighteenth position seemed only to serve as inspiration for the talented young racer who stormed through the field to finish fifth and claim a third-row starting spot for the second race. Ashley was quite pleased as she climbed out of her race car. Not only had she gained thirteen places during the contest, but a potential race-ending problem with her car had been discovered and repaired just in the nick of time. Minutes before the race, the cars lined up and set to take to the track, a member of Ashley's crew noticed a component of the front suspension was damaged and could fail at any moment. The Vallis Motor Sport team leapt into action, replacing the part just in time to send Ashley off to battle.

With a much better starting place for the second race of the day, Ashley was confident of being in contention for a victory. Things started well as she moved up the field, but after moving to third and starting pursuit of the leaders things came unravelled when she spun at the second corner. She tumbled far down the order, but recovered well to take eighth place when the checkered flag fell.

"Starting the first race from the back wasn't so bad," commented Ashley. "I got to do lots of passing! Unfortunately in the second race when I had a really good chance of winning, I spun out. I was pushing hard to catch the guys in front and just went over the limit. Too bad because the Barbie car felt good, thanks to the work of everyone at Vallis Motor Sport. We'll just have to go for it again at the next race."

Ashley's next race with the Barbie car comes in two weeks when she speeds through the streets of Winnipeg in Motorfest Manitoba, August 3-6.

For additional information, please contact Mark Jackson at mark@markjackson.ca. Visit www.AshleyTaws.com

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