The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship got their 2026 season underway as the first points of the Pirelli Portuguese Round were up for grabs in their Race 1. Saturday afternoon saw Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) again kick off her season from the top of the podium for her 13^th career win in the category. Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) sees silver in her first race as a permanent grid rider in WorldWCR, and 2025 runner-up Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) takes her 17th career podium in third place in the season’s first contest.

WorldWCR’S SECOND-BIGGEST WINNING MARGIN EVER: Only the third race in the category to be decided by more than a second

Herrera flew off the line and quickly established a gap of more than six-tenths ahead of Neila and the rest of the grid. By the start of the second lap, that lead had already ballooned up to +1.511s. She set a new WorldWCR Race lap record of 1’52.685s on Lap 4 as she continued to run away with the contest. With her win, Herrera has won more than half of all the 25 WorldWCR races ever run. Behind her, Ramos and Neila sparred for P2, and by Lap 5, they were nearly three seconds ahead of the rest of the grid. The pair went head-to-head for what surely won’t be the last time this season. In this confrontation, the rookie came out on top, beating Neila by more than three seconds. Ramos’s P2 marks her first podium as a permanent rider, but already her second podium after her wild card Grand Slam at Jerez last year. Neila’s P3 spells her 15^th rostrum in a row, prolonging her all-time record streak.

FREE-FOR-ALL FOR FOURTH: Only eight-tenths split P4 from P9

Behind the group fighting for the podium, it was a wrestling match for fourth through tenth place; Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team), Yvonne Cerpa (MotosCerpa), Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team), Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha), Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team), Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team), and Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) all rode with a knife between their teeth to take all the points they could from the season opener. In the early running. For most of the race, Cerba, Boudesseul, and Ponziani clashed at the head of their group. As the pack fought doggedly for every position and riders nudged each other aside, the order shuffled wildly even in the final laps. The #94 led the group across the line to take P4, followed by Sanchez in P5, and Ponziani in P6.

CERPA SHINES IN ROOKIE DEBUT: lands P9, one of seven Spaniards in the top 10

While her P7 finish doesn’t quite tell the story of how competitive Ruiz was in her 2026 debut, she has many positives to take away from the race. Natalia Rivera takes home P8 to open her season, both she and Ruiz promoted up a position after Yvonne Cerba was applied a three-second Irresponsible Riding Penalty by FIM WorldSBK Stewards, who was subsequently shuffled to P9. Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) closed out the top 10, as her pace trailed off in the later laps from the group she fought with in the early running.

RACE 1 CRASHERS: Two riders tumble on Turn 5

American rider Mallory Dobbs (YVS Sabadell Diva Racing) saw her race end after only five corners as she crashed out on the first lap. Four laps later, Turn 5 saw another crasher in the form of British rider Katie Hand (Team Trasimeno). Later on, Emily Bondi (FT Racing Academy) saw gravel on Turn 8 after the front gave out, and she slid off track on Lap 8.

The top six from the WorldWCR Race 1: Full results here!

1. Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR)
 2. Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) +4.657s
 3. Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) +7.774s
 4. Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha) +15.214s
 5. Sara Sanchez (Hadden Racing Team) +15.272s
 6. Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) +15.313s
 Fastest lap: Maria Herrera – 1’52.685s, new lap record

WorldWCR returns on Sunday at 14:00! (Local Time UTC +1)Catch all of the WorldWCR throughout 2026 by subscribing to the WorldWCR YouTube channel and following the Championship on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook!