The penultimate round of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship is officially underway at Donington Park. It was Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) who struck gold on Friday and will take pole for the 10th time in WorldWCR. Hot on her tail and taking P2 was Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) , who took her third front row start of 2026. Rounding off the front row at the Prosecco DOC UK Round, Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) took P3 as she looks to disrupt the Championship battle.
HERRERA TO ATTACK RACE 1 FROM POLE
Herrera set herself up well to make a play for the crown here at Donington Park. Her 1’39.091s time claimed the Spaniard her fourth pole of the season and means that she will start Race 1 from P1. If she can manage to outscore Neila by 26 points over the round, she will be crowned 2026 WorldWCR Champion after Race 2. The #36 was unable to outpace her rival in the session, her time clocked in as more than half a second slower than the #6, leaving her work cut out for her on Saturday from P2. Rounding off the front row, Ramos chased the title rivals on the timesheets from nine tenths behind Herrera and continues her front-row streak running to five consecutive rounds.
RUIZ TAKES P4 BUT WILL START FROM THE BACK ON SATURDAY
Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) nearly matched her best-ever Superpole result of P3, thanks to her 1’40.520s time. She fell one position to fourth. Unfortunately for the #46 she caught the ire of the FIM WorldSBK Stewards and was handed a back of the grid penalty in their Free Practice for improving her time despite a yellow flag being out. Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) impressed early on in the session, riding up in the top three with 15 minutes left. As other riders shaved down their times, she was unable to hold onto the front row and finished with a 1’40.556s time good for P5. Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) finished in P6 , but with Ruiz’s penalty, she will start from P5 with her 1’40.950s time. The result is the second-best Superpole finish of her rookie season, worse only than P5 in her WorldWCR debut at Portimao.
JONES ENDS FRIDAY IN THE GRAVEL
With two minutes left in the session, home hero Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) crashed out at Turn 1-2, ending her session early and preventing her from improving her 1’41.311s time, leaving her in P7. She was taken to the medical centre where she was diagnosed with a contusion and an abrasion to her right thigh, and will be re-evaluated tomorrow before the Warm Up session. Mexican rider Astrid Madrigal (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) clocked a time seven hundredths slower than the Brit, tying her best Superpole result of the season in P8. Spanish duo Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) and Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) rounded off the top ten times on Friday, Sanchez just five thousandths slower than Rivera’s 1’41.483s time.
The top six from the WorldWCR Tissot Superpole session, full results here!
- Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) 1’39.091s
- Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) +0.548s
- Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) +0.900s
- Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) * +1.429s
- Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) +1.465s
- Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) +1.859s
*Will start from the back of the grid
The action at Donington will continue on Saturday at 13:00 (UTC +1) in their first race of the round! Follow all the WorldWCR madness to come by subscribing to the WorldWCR YouTube channel and following the Championship on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook!