Aussie women on track and behind the scenes
The provisional entry list for the 2024 FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship has been announced, and there are a couple of Aussie links to the list!
The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, with six rounds in 2024, is a single-make series exclusively for female riders riding Yamaha R7 motorcycles.
Over 40 riders applied to compete in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR) and eventually 24 were selected to take part in the inaugural edition of the series in 2024.
On track, Tayla Relph has been named as the sole Australian woman on the entry list, but there is also another Aussie playing a major role behind the scenes.
Australian-born Maddi Patterson is joining the fray with her own team, Sekhmet Racing. Maddi will field American rider Mallory Dobbs alongside Brit Lissy Whitmore.
Tayla Relph has shown great speed over a number of years on Australian racetracks, primarily in Supersport 300, and hopes to be a podium contender right from the off.
Tayla recently threw a leg over an R7 for the first time at Broadford, and immediately set some pretty good times.
With the series visiting circuits that are all new to Tayla, it will give the well-seasoned European campaigners somewhat of an advantage.
Pre-season favourites are Spanish riders Ana Carrasco and Beatriz Santos.
Carrasco beat all the boys to the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship in 2018, but the 26-year-old has had somewhat of a tough run since then, including stints in the Moto3 World Championship, where she broke her tib and fib competing at the Indonesian Motorcycle Grand Prix last year. Carrasco is backed by Evan Bros Racing.
Beatriz Neila Santos has been dominating female road race events across Europe in recent years and is backed by Pata Promoteon Yamaha in 2024.
While many of the riders are backed by some significant teams, all the bikes are supplied on a controlled basis by Yamaha Europe. Thus, all will be on a fairly equal footing.
However, the big teams will have some very handy suspension techs at their disposal while Tayla’s longest term backer, her dad, will be in her corner. That hasn’t held her back before though, as she notched up podiums battling with the boys on Australian racetracks.
Also on hand to help Tayla throughout the series will be partner Ted Collins. As a well-seasoned road racer with a technical background himself, Ted will be much more than just a brolly dolly for Tayla on the grid. The couple have run ride days and track rider tuition classes for many years together and are long-term staples of the ASBK paddock.
27-year-old Tayla will base herself out of the UK for the majority of the four-month season that kicks off at Misano in mid-June alongside the fourth round of the World Superbike Championship.
Next stop on the inaugural WorldWCR calendar is Donington Park in mid-July, followed by Portimao on August 11. The Balaton Park circuit in Hungary hosts the fourth round (subject to homologation) in late August before the penultimate contest at Italy’s Cremona Circuit on September 22. The finale will be staged in conjunction with the World Superbike final round at Jerez on the weekend of October 20.
2024 Provisional WorldWCR Permanent Entry List
- 4- Emily Bondi (FRA), YART Zelos Black Knights Team
- 7- Andrea Sibaja Moreno (ESP), Deza – Box 77 Racing Team
- 8- Tayla Relph (AUS), TAYCO Motorsport
- 10- Ran Yochay (ISR), 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
- 14- Mallory Dobbs (USA), Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team
- 15- Sarah Varon (COL), ITALIKA Racing FIMLA
- 16- Lucy Michel (GER), TSL-Racing
- 19- Adela Ourednickova (CZE), DafitMotoracing
- 21- Nicole Van Aswegen (RSA), Andalaft Racing
- 22- Ana Carrasco (ESP), Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team
- 28- Ornella Ongaro (FRA), Team Flembbo PL Performances
- 29- Mia Stenseth Rusthen (NOR), Rusthen Racing
- 33- Chun Mei Liu (TPE), WT Racing Team Taiwan
- 34- Alyssia Whitmore (GBR), Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team
- 35- Lena Kemmer (AUT), Bertl K. Racing Team
- 36- Beatriz Neila Santos (ESP), Pata Prometeon Yamaha
- 44- Luna Hirano (JPN), Team Luna
- 46- Francisca Ruiz Vidal (ESP), PS Racing Team 46+1
- 52- Jessica Howden (RSA), Team Trasimeno
- 53- Iryna Nadieieva (UKR), MPS.RT
- 64- Sara Sanchez Tamayo (ESP), 511 Terra&Vita Racing Team
- 83- Astrid Madrigal (MEX), ITALIKA Racing FIMLA
- 96- Roberta Ponziani (ITA), Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team
- 99- Isis Carreno Avila (CHI), AD78 FIM Latinoamerica by Team GP3
2024 WorldWCR calendar
- Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round, Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” – 14-16 June
- Prosecco DOC UK Round, Donington Park – 12-14 July
- Pirelli Portuguese Round, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – 9-11 August
- Hungarian Round, Balaton Park Circuit* – 23-25 August
- Acerbis Italian Round, Cremona Circuit* – 20-22 September
- Prometeon Spanish Round, Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto – 18-20 October
- Subject to homologation
