More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Herrera just beats Carrasco across the line in an historic first WorldWCR race at Misano
Race 1 Highlights:
Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) wins the inaugural five-lap WorldWCR race at the Misano World Circuit, setting a blistering pace and crossing the line just 0.067 of a second ahead of fellow Spaniard Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team)
Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) came out on top in the exciting battle for third, closing half a second ahead of Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team), fourth, and Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha), fifth
It was Spaniard Carrasco who set the fastest lap of the race, a 1’48.594 (lap four). This result means that she will start Sunday’s Race 2 from pole position
The race came to a premature end for Lena Kemmer (Bertl K. Racing Team), Iryna Nadieieva (MPS.RT) and Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team), all of whom crashed but sustained no serious injuries
It was a race of three parts, the original race red-flagged on lap six due to a serious incident for Mia Rusthen (Rusthen Racing) through Turn 16. Norwegian Rusthen has suffered a head injury with concussion and is currently receiving treatment at the Bufalini Trauma Centre in Cesena. The patient’s condition has been stabilised
A second ‘heat’ was also red-flagged after Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno) crashed on lap one. The South African rider has been diagnosed with concussion and was transported by helicopter to the Bufalini Trauma Centre. The rider is conscious
Championship Standings:
Herrera’s maiden WorldWCR victory means that she takes an early championship lead with 25 points
Carrasco and Sanchez follow close behind, having banked 20 and 16 points respectively
Key Points:
Pole position: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) – 1’49.390
Race 1 winner: Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team)
Race fastest lap: Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) – 1’48.594
P1 | Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team
“I’m so happy, not only to have won the first ever WorldWCR race, but also because we have been able to achieve this result after so much hard work over the last month. I didn’t even ride the bike until yesterday but I really wanted to win, so I pushed hard in every session and was also able to set pole, which came as a nice surprise. I had a great battle with Ana in the race; it was tough, and I was on the limit, but I was strong on the brakes. I still need to understand the bike more in order to be faster, but I’m working well with the team and am really pleased with what we’ve done so far.”
P2 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team
“I’m pretty happy with today’s result, especially after the red flags earlier in the day. A race made up of only five laps is always difficult to manage and, in the end, I wasn’t quite able to win, but it was very close. I’ll try to improve a little ahead of tomorrow and go for the win in Race 2. This is my first race since last October so Maria has definitely had more race experience than me this season, and perhaps the sprint format suited her better today. Our pace was almost identical though, so I think we’re in for a similar race tomorrow. I think there were some nerves among the riders today, with this being the very first race in a new championship, but that’s to be expected I guess; I was nervous too!”
P3 | Sara Sanchez | 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
“Today was not easy, not least because we started the race three times. I’m very happy to have reached the podium, also because the level is very high, but I want to keep improving so that I can try to win tomorrow. I lost time off the line today and then only had five laps in which to make up the lost ground. It was great to be there battling with Neila and Ponziani, but I think with a longer race tomorrow I can be more competitive, as long as I make a better start than I did in Race 1.”
More, from a press release issued by
Highs and lows for Sekhmet Racing in first WorldWCR race(s)
P18 for Lissy Whitmore but DNF for Mallory Dobbs while fighting for top ten at Misano
Misano, 15 June 2024
The inaugural round of the World Women’s Circuit Racing Championship has brought mixed success for Sekhmet International Racing Team riders Lissy Whitmore and Mallory Dobbs at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
The team’s British racer Whitmore was happy to come home just outside the points in P18 in her first world championship race, but with a crash for her American teammate Dobbs bringing to an end a charge through the pack on a chaotic opening day.
The 12-lap race was first set to take place on Saturday morning, but red flags came out half way through it after an incident involving Mia Rusthen. Initially delayed, the race was then postponed until the end of the day and shortened to five laps.
Red flagged again after a crash on the opening lap, when the race eventually got underway properly, both Dobbs and Whitmore were able to make strong starts. Rising to as high as 11th, Dobbs was making progress towards the top ten when she crashed out unhurt at turn 14.
Whitmore was able to make steady progress throughout the race, only just losing out in the battle for P17 in the final corners.
Thankfully both won’t have long to wait until they get to capitalise on Saturday’s experience though, with the series’ second race to set underway on Sunday morning at 1150 local time. The race will be televised free and in full on the series’ YouTube channel.
Maddi Patterson, Team Principal
Firstly, I’d like to send my best wishes to Mia. I hope she has a speedy recovery and to her family, friends and supporters, we are all rooting for her. Secondly, to the other competitors who have been hurt and injured in today’s racing, I wish you well and I was happy to see you back walking around the paddock at the conclusion of today’s racing.
It was a bit of a mixed bag today. For my riders and myself. I think there’s a lot to learn and there’s no shame in saying that. New track, lots of stop and starts, and a reality check. Don’t sweat the small stuff, is my observation and my advice.
Lissy went out and did what we wanted her to. She had great starts, and the first restart was looking so promising before it was red flagged. I know to the outsider looking in it might not look that way – but looking at the bigger picture, she is turning into a great young professional, and she showed today what I have said all along. The tools are there, and she’s doing it.
I was gutted for Mal because I know all she wanted to do was hunt down that top 10 position. The reality is she hasn’t had a good start to the weekend and I hope it improves. This is a new track for Mallory. A new country and a new way of working. I have no doubt she will find her feet and hone in on her craft. It’s there. I don’t ever want to hear her doubt herself again. She needs to find the faith.
Lissy Whitmore, #34
P18
I qualified and then I finished, so I’m really happy, because that was the target. The only way is up for me, and I am happy overall.
There’s more pace to come. I just need to not forget that this is my first time at this circuit as well as my second time ever riding an R7 as well. Before Cremona, I’d never touched one. It’s just little things I need to remember; I’m still learning, and we’ve had a good-ish start.
Too much went through my head on the restarts. We’ve had a really unfortunate day. All I can ask is that we not brush it under the carpet but learn from it and I just hope that everybody today who was involved in all of those crashes is okay, because it’s not nice to have to see and it’s not nice to have to experience.
I’ve had chats with James Toseland and Neil Hodgson, with Sam Lowes, and they’ve all said the same thing to me – just clear your head from today, you’ll automatically feel better tomorrow. We’re just going to see what happens!
James came over on the grid and he was helping me out. I was happy. I feel like I belong. I’d had a bit of imposter syndrome because it’s a big paddock and I’ve never been in something like this before, but I feel like I’m meant to be here now.
Mallory Dobbs, #14
DNF
If we start with the positives, it does feel like we’ve made a lot of steps in the right direction today.
We improved. The nice thing about the first restart is that we’d done our Long Lap Penalty and we’d moved up two grid spots from our original start. When we did the restart the second time, we got to gain two grid spots and we didn’t have a Long Lap Penalty anymore, so it was a better race for us. It put us in a better situation, which was exciting.
It was unfortunate for the riders who went down – we obviously want to make sure that everyone is okay, but we did good in the restart and worked our way up to 11th before we crashed. Really good improvements, and we did decrease our lap time by a little bit.
In the race we kind of lost the group that was ahead of us on the last lap, and I figured it would just be good to set some good laps to get a better grid position for tomorrow, to put us in a little bit of a better spot – just was doing my own thing running some laps and unfortunately took the front in Turn 14.
There’s a little bit of bump there, the tyres had gone through a numerous number of restarts, a number of laps. It was a chaotic day of three or four restarts. I think we started three times today, so it was definitely a lot of chaos. The tyres definitely didn’t wear too great, not that that is an excuse. We just went in there, no different than I really had before, although obviously the data will tell us otherwise, and tucked the front. We’re all good physically and we’ll try again tomorrow.
Now we’ll just forget about today and start back over tomorrow. It was a tough day in the office and it’s always hard not to dwell on this stuff, but we definitely just want to reset!
