Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) sends the career FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship title fight to Jerez as she won Race 2 at the Prosecco DOC UK Round after a monumental recovery ride up from a P10 start. Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) crossed the line in first, but after being applied a penalty for making contact on the final lap with Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team), she was demoted to P2. Rounding off the podium, Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) inherited P3 after the final-lap crash from her teammate and earned her second podium of the season at Donington Park.
NEILA COMPLETES HER RECOVERY RUN
Herrera shot off the line for an uncontested holeshot ahead of Ramos. The #58 later that lap slid into first place on Turn 4 before Herrera got back in front on the Fogarty Esses. Ramos replicated the move on Turn 4 of Lap 2; however, again Herrera struck back on the Turn 9-10 chicane. Ramos gave chase, but over the first three laps, the #6 began to pull away, hovering around a second clear of the field.
By the outset of Lap 3, Neila had climbed up from a P10 grid start to P6. That same lap, she pulled off a two-for-one move on the brakes into the Foggy Esses on Muklada Sarapuech (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by EEST NJT Racing) and Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) to claim P4. With seven laps to go, she slid past Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) into the Foggy Esses for third place. Neila then tailed the #58, who was making progress in chipping away at the #6’s gap. With two laps to go, Ramos pulled herself up to briefly overtake the #6. On the final lap, Ramos made her way alongside Herrera on Turn 6, but Herrera went bar to bar and made contact, sending the #58 into the grass. Neila closed onto the back of the leading pair over the final lap but was unable to pass Herrera on track. Although the #6 crossed the line first, the FIM Stewards handed Herrera a six-second penalty for Irresponsible Riding following her contact with Ramos. The penalty dropped Herrera to second, promoted Neila to victory and ensured the title fight will go down to the season finale at Jerez. Ponziani also inherited third place in the race, moving into third as well in the Riders' Championship one point ahead of Ramos.
JONES CLOSES DONINGTON IN P4
Sarapuech started the race from P3, but she was unable to match the strong pace set by the Klint Racing machines, falling back to P5 after they each passed. She led Jones from P4 on the final lap, until crashing out of the race on Turn 9, resulting in a trip to the medical centre where she is undergoing assessment. Jones was similarly swallowed up by the pack at lights out, falling two positions farther back to P6 by Lap 4. She made it up to P5, but she couldn’t find the pace to catch the Thai rookie nor the podium fight ahead of the #12; after the #12’s crash, she improved to P4, another strong result after a podium at Misano. Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) finished the round in P5, her second P5 of the weekend. Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) improved on her P9 from Race 1 to a P6 on Sunday afternoon.
MADRIGAL LANDS P7
Astrid Madrigal (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) crossed the line in P7 just a tenth behind Ruiz, and a tenth ahead of Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) in P8. Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) finished P9, a big improvement from her Race 1 opening-lap crash. Behind her, French duo Justine Pedemonte (GMT-94 Yamaha) took P10 ahead of Line Vieillard (FT Racing Academy) in P11.
The top six from the WorldWCR Race 2: Full results here!
- Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha)
- Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) +5.874s
- Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) +7.298s
- Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) +9.746s
- Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) +10.130s
- Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) +11.788s
Fastest lap: Paola Ramos, 1’38.908s – new lap record
Championship standings
- Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) 226 points
- Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) 182
- Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) 118
- Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) 117
- Muklada Sarapuech (EEST NJT Racing Team) 99
- Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) 90
Just one round of WorldWCR action remains! Tune in on October 16th for the thrilling final round at Jerez! WorldWCR YouTube channel and follow the Championship on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook!