LINEUP REVIEW: Get up to speed with WorldWCR’s 2026 field
With their season debut just around the corner, get to know all the faces raring to take their place on the grid
After two sensational seasons so far, 2026 brings with it the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship’s third season. Several new names bolster an already-stacked field of riders, while familiar contenders throw the hat in the ring for the title. Before lights out on Friday, March 27th, in the WorldWCR season opener at the Pirelli Portuguese Round, get a feel for the field before they hit the ground running.
2025’S TOP PERFORMERS: Herrera looks to defend her place at the top
Having moved boxes this offseason away from the Klint Racing Team garage to the Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR outfit, Maria Herrera will conduct her title defence hoping to match or even overcome her impressive benchmark of winning at least six of the season’s 12 races in each of the last two campaigns. Looking for retribution after falling short in a late title comeback, Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) finished runner-up last season, and as she stays with her same team this season, she should be involved in the title fight. Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha) took her WorldWCR podium in her home round last season and took five more on the season to place P3 in the Championship. Her form in the second half of the season threw a monkey wrench spanner in the works for both Neila and Herrera at times in their pursuit of the crown, and in 2026, she will look to take another step and aspire for the title in earnest. Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) remains in her2024 and 2025 garage, and while she was the only rider, apart from Herrera and Neila, to win a race last season, she will look for more consistently strong results, like at Cremona last year, where she took P2 and a race win. Sara Sanchez moves teams to the ride with the Hadden Racing Team and will hope for a strong jump out of the gate in 2026 after kicking off 2025 with a double podium at Assen. Another Spaniard to watch is rookie Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team). She earned a ride with her breakout Jerez performance last year, scoring a P4 in her debut race before running away with Race 2 for her first win in the Championship in just her second race.
BREAKING INTO THE FIGHT AT THE FRONT: Narrow margins split the top five from the top ten with this much talent up and down the order
Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94 Yamaha) took steps round after round last season, taking a podium in each of the final two rounds. The 23-year-old will hope for a breakout sophomore campaign. Pakita Ruiz (PR46+1 Racing Team) may not have registered a rostrum result in 2025, but she was one of the most consistent riders in the Championship last year. She never failed to take points from a race and only missed the top 12 once. The Spanish rider will hope to have found some speed this offseason to propel her to the battle for silverware. Mexican rider Astrid Madrigal (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) kept up her pace within the top ten for a P9 finish in the 2025 Championship. Her task this season will be to find the speed she showed last year at Cremona, which sent her to a WorldWCR career-high P4. Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing) was frequently fighting with Madrigal and AvalonLewis for the latter positions in the top 10 and will look to break through to the podium fight.
TOP 15 FIGHTERS: Rivera joined by defending Champion and hopes to learn from the #6
Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) will benefit this season from now having a World Champion in the garage; she’ll look to take in all the lessons she can to find a step up the order in 2026. Mallory Dobbs (YVS Sabadell Diva Racing) will ride as the United States’ sole representative this season and will hunt for more consistency in earning results like her WorldWCR career best at Magny-Cours of P10. Chilean rider Isis Carreno (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) welcomes a clean slate in 2026 after a 2025 season limited to participating in eight of 12 races by an ankle injury suffered in training. Lucy Michel (TSL-Racing) and Emily Bondi (FT Racing Academy) both will look to kick off their season strong after middle-of-the-road finishes in the 2025 season in P17 and P19. Bondi’s compatriot and 2026 teammate Line Vieillard (FT Racing Academy) joins the field for her first full WorldWCR season after a strong Championship debut in her home round at Magny-Cours, taking P9 and P11. Adela Ourednickova (Dafitmotoracing) opened and closed the 2025 season by scoring points in Assen’s Race 1 and Jerez’s Race 2. She will work to improve the frequency with which she lands points to move her farther up the order in 2026.
WorldWCR’S NEWCOMERS: Dal Zotto and Hand earn permanent grid places
New faces who have landed themselves full-time seats on the 2026 grid, some of whom aretrue rookies and others arriving back into the paddock after previously having debuted as a wildcard or replacement rider. Of the returning riders, Denise Dal Zotto (PATA AG Motorsport Italia) scored points in both races at her Cremona debut, then took a single point from her second and final appearance in 2025. She hopes to settle in quickly, with a similar story for British rider Katie Hand (Team Trasimeno), who aims to take her first WorldWCR points sooner rather than later. As for the riders making their WorldWCR debut at Portimao, Spaniard Yvonne Cerpa brings JuniorGP experience to the table, joining the paddock alongside Arianna Barale (Hadden Racing Team) and Martina Guarino (Prata Motor Sport). Polish pair Patrycja Sowa (Team Trasimeno) and Karolina Danak (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA) may race for different teams, but together they have become the first Polish riders in WorldWCR’s three-season history.
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