The opening race of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship’s Pirelli Spanish Round saw Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) win her fourth WorldWCR race despite a jump start penalty. Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) took P2 for her 26th podium ahead of Ramos’s teammate Roberta Ponziani, who led the second group behind them in P3. P5 finisher Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) stole the show, sealing her 2026 title defence. She ran a tidy Race 1 at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia, amid the second group to seal the 2026 Riders’ Championship ahead of Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha), who sealed second in the title race.
RAMOS RECOVERS FROM DOUBLE LONG LAP
Ramos defended P1 into Turn 1 after starting on pole in front of Herrera and Neila. Neila took P2 at Turn 6, and the #36 began to run away with Ramos at the front over the early laps. With ten laps to go, Herrera, Ponziani and Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) sparred for P3; a second behind the lead pair and more than two and a half seconds clear of the riders behind them.
With eight laps remaining, FIM Stewards handed Ramos a double Long Lap Penalty for a Jump Start at lights out. By that point, she and Neila were nearly four and a half seconds clear of Ponziani in P3. Ramos took her penalty, falling as far behind Neila as 3.4 seconds before finding another gear, closing the Madrid native down, including a Lap 8 clocking in eight tenths faster than Neila and taking back P1 at Turn 6 of the final lap.
PONZIANI BACK TO PODIUM
The #96 confirmed her Race 2 step at Donington as she outgunned the 2026 Champions and Rivera behind her to take her third podium of the season. Rivera looked to have found a step at home, as her P4 marks her best-ever result in the class. With a 44-point lead over her rival #36, Herrera needed only six points to clinch her second consecutive title, and her steady P5 finish was just what the doctor ordered. Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) was penalised down to P6 for exceeding track limits at Turn 13 on the final lap, a sour end to an otherwise impressive comeback from a P13 grid start. Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) finished P7 in Race 1, just a tenth and a half behind Cerpa as she extended her top ten streak to nine races, every race since Assen.
SANCHEZ IN P8 TO OPEN HOME ROUND
Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) led the third group home, improving her P10 grid start to a P8 finish. Muklada Sarapuech (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by EEST NJT Racing) rode in P7 early in the contest, but her pace diminished over the second half of the race, leaving the Thai rider with a P9 finish. Polishing off the top ten, French rider Emily Bondi (FT Racing Academy) landed her third top-ten finish in the last three rounds.
The top six from the WorldWCR Race 1: Full results here!
- Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team)
- Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) +0.167s
- Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) +8.646s
- Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) +8.907s
- Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) +9.097s
- Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa-Gradara Corse) +9.107s
Fastest lap: Paola Ramos, 1’50.998s – new lap record
Championship standings
- Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) 237 points
- Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) 202
- Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) 142
- Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) 134
- Muklada Sarapuech (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by EEST NJT Racing) 106
- Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) 99
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