The brand new WorldWCR collection, motorcycling’s all-female world championship, reached the midway level of its inaugural season final weekend alongside World Superbikes at Portimao.
And whereas the on-track product has been higher than anybody might ever have imagined, there’s nonetheless loads of work to do to permit WCR to succeed in its true potential.
It is no shock in any respect that Moto3 points-scorer Maria Herrera leads the collection from 2018 World Supersport 300 champion Ana Carrasco, with the pair splitting all six wins up to now between them. They had been, in any case, the 2 superstars of girls’s motorbike racing heading into the opening spherical of the season at Misano in June.
However it’s been the emergence of fellow Spanish riders Sara Sanchez (pictured above) and Beatriz Neila as their predominant rivals that is made the largest impression, as they’ve held Herrera and Carrasco to account and between the 4 of them produced probably the most persistently entertaining racing in any motorbike racing world championship this season.
Each race has up to now been selected the ultimate lap and the largest profitable margin has been solely half a second. Remarkably, half the races have been gained by beneath a tenth of a second.
When you’re a motorbike racing fan, you merely ought to be watching this championship – one thing that is straightforward to do on account of free international distribution on YouTube in addition to WorldWCR being within the common World Superbikes TV bundle.
Nonetheless, whereas the racing on the sharp finish is likely to be improbable, there are nonetheless loads of issues that the championship must do higher for the long run, if its function of actually giving ladies a top-level platform to race bikes on is to be realised.
I ought to level out earlier than I am going any additional that I’ve obtained a horse within the race, because it had been. My spouse, Maddi, owns Sekhmet Racing, one of many collection’ groups, and runs Mallory Dobbs and Lissy Whitmore within the championship.
As such, I’ve spent extra time within the collection’ paddock than another journalist. And whereas I am not pretending I haven’t got a bias, I am additionally capable of discuss from a place of full immersion in WCR.
With that place comes an understanding of the largest hurdles going through a lot of those that haven’t been as aggressive as Carrasco, Herrera, Sanchez and Neila.
First amongst these, and maybe the toughest to repair within the brief time period, is the massive unfold of expertise on the grid. It is one thing that may’t be helped given the necessity to pull collectively a full 24-bike grid, but it surely has meant that the primary group have been many seconds forward of the battles behind most weekends, due to many of the area nonetheless having to study the championship’s circuits.
With WCR given solely a single 25-minute session earlier than qualifying, it has been a case of very accelerated studying curves for lots of the pack whereas the racers on the entrance – who’re turning as much as tracks they’re already conversant in – get on with the enterprise of organising their bikes for racing.
That is exaggerated much more by the title recognition and subsequently sponsorship that the likes of Carrasco and Herrera dropped at the collection, too. Some riders have been capable of full testing on the one-make collection’ Yamaha R7s at each observe on the calendar, whereas many haven’t.
The dearth of expertise that among the opponents have has additionally contributed to a major variety of accidents and incidents. Amid the mix of restricted expertise of massive grids (among the area have solely raced in single-figure fields prior to now) and grand prix-level circuits, mixed with the stress of racing on a worldwide stage, first-lap incidents have been far too widespread.
It is one thing that might have been averted or not less than mitigated with extra pre-season testing as a substitute of a single two-day outing at Italy’s Cremona circuit, the place WorldWCR was only a help act on a public observe day and riders weren’t given the prospect for basic items resembling apply race begins on the primary grid. Many dumped the clutch in anger for the primary time on the Misano grid in race one.
That in flip, it appears, stems from what appears awfully like collection promoter Dorna’s indifference in the direction of the championship. WCR is a pet venture of FIM president Jorge Viegas that you simply get the impression Dorna by no means actually needed to run. It has been considerably rushed in its implementation and finished to a bare-bones price construction that has solely additional widened the hole from the midfield to the entrance.
Nonetheless, hopefully the success of the 2024 season mixed with System 1 proprietor Liberty Media’s imminent takeover of Dorna will result in enhancements.
The racing we have seen up to now (each on the entrance and within the shut packs additional down the grid that do not get as a lot TV time) has been greater than adequate to make sure WCR succeeds, given the best help.
And it is essential it does succeed. Already the championship is displaying that moderately than Carrasco and Herrera’s achievements up to now being a restrict for girls in motorbike racing, there are others on the market poised to go additional as they acquire expertise. And that there might be even greater skills but to be discovered. WorldWCR ought to be each the platform that finds them, and that reveals younger ladies there’s a spot for them inside bike racing.
We not too long ago took an in-depth take a look at WorldWCR – together with interviews with riders, an ex-MotoGP rider turned WCR rider coach and FIM president Viegas – in a particular episode of our MotoGP Further podcast, unique to The Race Members’ Membership
