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Suspension failure denied Ashley the opportunity to shine at Thruxton last weekend (17/18 May), at what was technically his home race.

Ashley’s car had been completely rebuilt after he rolled spectacularly out of the previous round of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park (4 May), but a brand new shock absorber caused him constant problems.

Ashley explains: “Over 75% of the corners at Thruxton are right-handers and they’re all fast with little run-off. You need to be confident and committed, but I was having to brake to stop the back end [of the car] from stepping out.”

This cost Ashley dearly in Timed Qualifying and he ended up near the back of the grid. In the first race he gamely struggled round and eventually brought his car home in 16^th place.

Ironically, despite his poor qualifying and race pace, Ashley enjoyed a huge amount of attention.

“After the Donington crash, my team put some stickers on either side of the car saying ‘This Way Up’ and big arrows like you see on cardboard boxes to show which way they should be carried or stacked. The amount of interest was phenomenal, I got loads of attention.”

With his suspension problem still undetected in the second race, Ashley was unable to reward his many family and friends who had made the trip from Bournemouth to cheer him on.”

The Hampshire circuit is renowned as Britain’s fastest track — but Ashley was losing between 12 and 18mph in the corners thanks to his car’s broken suspension. Nevertheless he finished in 17^th place and is now looking forward to the Championship’s visit to Croft, near Darlington in two weeks’ time (1 June).

“Unlike Thruxton, which I’d never even seen before, I know Croft quite well and will be working hard to get on the podium.”