Barbie Super Touring Car Sixth At Grand Prix Of Toronto

July 9 2007 - Drivers Ashley Taws and Jordan Marrison shared the "Barbie at Wal*Mart" Super Touring Car at the Grand Prix of Toronto, making steady progress throughout the weekend and ultimately finishing sixth in class, fourteenth overall, in a Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship race that boasted a field of 51 entries. The team was thrilled with the result in which their 1991 BMW showed well against many newer machines.

Marrison was first on the track, taking the wheel for practise on Friday afternoon. Taws got her first look at the track on Saturday morning when she leapt straight into the qualifying session and gridded thirteenth in the Super Touring class, 29th overall, for the first of two races.

Taws was back in the car for race one on Saturday afternoon and made excellent progress in the early going until the car's handling began to deteriorate. A caution period then allowed those behind to catch up and Taws knew she would be in for a real battle when the race re-started. She fought a heated battle with James Foote's Honda Civic that lasted right to the finish line. The pair traded places and even paint as they bumped, but Foote took the position as they raced to the line. Taws finished ninth in class, 22nd overall.

Marrison was back behind the wheel for a warm up on Sunday morning and the final race on Sunday afternoon. Starting the race where Taws had finshed race one, Marrison soon arrived at the scene of an accident. The track appeared blocked, but when a car backed up to extrcate itself from the jumble, Marrison was able to slip past. After several laps behind the pace car the race resumed and the Barbie car was soon in another battle with the familiar Honda of James Foote. Again there was spirited racing and some contact, but this time the Barbie car came out on top and Marrison went on to cross the line sixth in class, fourteenth overall.

"The Vertex Fabworx/Barbie BMW Race Team had a fantastic weekend," said driver and Fabworx co-owner Marrison. "Lap times improved steadily all weekend, ensuring good starting positions for both races. Despite the hot weather and challenging track conditions, Ashley and I managed to drive clean, strategic races that ensured finishes and points. The BMW ran flawlessly all weekend due to the efforts of the entire team. Overall the weekend was a tremendous success and the team is looking forward to visiting Calabogie Motorsports Park at the end of July."

"I had some good battles, it was a very tight race and it's so much fun to drive that track," Taws said of her race. "Jordan and I both ended up with a little damage, so there's a bit of work for Open Road BMW, but we did well and everyone is happy. Vertex Fabworx were awesome preparing the Barbie Car and it got faster each time out. I'd really like to thank our sponsors, the media and all the fans for the incredible support. It was fun."

Taws will next race the "Barbie at Wal*Mart" Stock Car, July 21 at Peterborough Speedway (the July 14 race at Cayuga is being rescheduled). In her last oval race, at Sauble Speedwar, she finished an impressive second. The "Barbie at Wal*Mart" Super Touring Car will next see action with drivers Jordan Marrison and Brock Gilboe at Calabogie Motorsports Park, July 28-29.