He will line up on the grid for the British Endurance Championship.
The soldier will head to the series with high hopes after an encouraging debut outing in his new Ginetta G55 sports car at the recent Silverstone Festival, where he finished third in class in a competitive GT4 field.
“I only bought the car a week earlier,” he told SoldierSport. “It had never raced before and was just used as a track day toy.
“The Silverstone Festival attracts huge crowds, as well as professional drivers who have competed in the likes of touring cars and Le Mans.
“We pushed really hard to get there, qualified third in our class and then finished in the same position.
“There were two Ginetta GT4s ahead of us, but they had 30 horsepower more than our car. The guy in second is currently leading the endurance championship and we were only two tenths of a second off his best lap time.
“An extra 30 horsepower would mean we can gain a second over a 2min 10sec lap at Silverstone, which is a lot in motorsport.
“It is looking really promising ahead of next year.”
Ashmore has been involved with the army sportscar racing team for 15 years, starting out in a Honda Civic and progressing to the Ferrari Challenge, before selling the exotic Italian machine to finance the Ginetta.
However, he won’t be flying solo in the next chapter of his journey. LCpl Josh Gilding (RCAM) has been recruited to share the driving duties, while the pit crew, team manager and data analysts are all fellow personnel.
“We did a Citroen C1 24-hour race with Josh at Silverstone,” Ashmore added. “There were 50 cars on the grid, and we battled through to finish 14th.
“That was his first competitive race and he really impressed with his driving, attitude and intelligence.
“Because this is an endurance championship, we need two drivers and I wanted to bring in a young lance corporal to show that army motorsport is not just for guys like me, who have been in for 23 years.
“He has got to do a lot of work to get fully up to speed and the great thing is it will be a full army team.
“This will be our first step into professional motorsport, and I have worked extremely hard to get here – I’ve never had anything for free.
“I have benefited from the army and would not be here without them, but there has been a lot of graft in getting sponsors onboard and keeping them happy.
“I do all the repairs and maintenance to make sure the car is reliable, and it is tough going over every component before a race.
“It has come with a lot of personal expense and time, but this is where I’ve always wanted to be.”
