News

Entrusted with the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team’s marketing and communication activities, communications manager Eva Blanquez is proudly a woman of many hats who plays an integral role for the team. 25 years after first starting to work with Kawasaki, the Spaniard has proven herself a vital asset and worked the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season with Bimota as they made their return to the Championship.

A RIDER SINCE BIRTH: “My dad was an amateur trials racer and mechanic, so I grew up around bikes and racing. I started trials riding just for fun when I was maybe 8 or 9”

With her father having been a rider himself, Blanquez has been around bikes practically her whole life. Her time atop a bike of her own began when she was eight or nine, and she began racing more competitively she was 13. Her career as a rider took her to the national competition level, as well as competing in the Barcelona 24-hour event. By the time she was in college, she began writing to afford a spot on a bike and to continue competing. It was a busy time in her life, but Blanquez managed to juggle it all.

On her introduction to the sport and career as a rider, Blanquez said: “My dad was an amateur trials racer and mechanic, so I grew up around bikes and racing. I started trial riding just for fun when I was maybe 8 or 9, and at 13 I started racing. I rode minibikes, scooters and then 125, 600 and 1000 bikes. I competed nationally, and towards the end, I did the Barcelona 24 Hours, which was crazy! I was still racing when I went to college to study communication and marketing, and at the same time, I was working for a communications agency and producing a magazine-style motorsport TV show with some friends. I was very busy! By the time I was about 20, it wasn't easy for me to afford to continue racing. So, I started writing articles for some Spanish magazines in exchange for a bike so I could race that weekend. It was very hard to combine a job with racing. It would be hard even today.

OVERCOMING OBSTACLES: “Being a female rider in a men’s world, perhaps you need to do more to prove yourself”

While Blanquez exudes enthusiasm for the job and the Championship as a whole, her path to success has by no means been without its share of struggles. Part of those struggles in her eyes pertained to her striving for professional success as a woman in a male-dominated industry. While she acknowledges that there were certainly situations in which her gender provided advantages, she feels at times she had to prove herself more than her male coworkers.

On how her gender affected her career path, Blanquez said: “Challenging situations exist whether you’re male or female. In my case, I’d say there were advantages to being a woman. When I was racing, for example, I was the only woman there. And that made me stand out, which meant that journalists gave me the opportunity to write and earn money to race. As for being a female rider in a men’s world, perhaps you need to do more to prove yourself. I remember one time asking a mechanic to make a change to the bike, but when I got on it, everything felt the same. And it turned out he was basically doing two clicks to the right and two clicks to the left, just to try and show everyone that I was asking for things but had no idea. That's just how it is. You have to find the way. I also appreciate that as a woman, I’ve had some very good opportunities. Why did they call me to do TV commentary, for example? I wasn't a WorldSBK expert. There were undoubtedly a lot of men better prepared than I to do that job, but they called me because I'm a woman. Experienced, yes, but they called me because I'm a woman. So, there are positives and negatives.”

PROVIDING A PLATFORM: “Now there are many more women who want to compete, and they’re at a very good level”

During her career as a rider, Blanquez competed with the boys and felt right at home, and her talent saw her win races even as the only woman competing. At the time, there were very few female riders. Now, however, year after year, things are changing as more women are interested in the sport; with WorldWCR, that Championship has shown that not only are there very quick riders from all over the world, but that there is interest in the Championship from fans and sponsors.

Discussing how the situation has changed, she said: “When I was a kid, I felt like one of the boys and loved competing against them. I won a lot of races and was often the only girl competing. But now many more women want to compete, and they’re at a very good level, so it's the right time for WorldWCR, for a women’s championship. And it’s good because a World Championship means coverage, TV broadcasters, sponsors, and support. So, your life as a rider is easier, and there’s much more of a structure and a network than there was when I was growing up. I think the nice thing today is that riders have an option, so yes, there's a dedicated women's Championship, but riders can also choose to run in a mixed category.”

A DREAM COME TRUE: “I remember watching the race, pointing to the paddock, and telling my dad, “I’ll work here in the future, I’ll be here at this track”

Working a job you love means you never truly work a day in your life, and Blanquez has been fortunate enough to find herself in a job where that is the case. Perhaps had she never broken into motorsport, she may have worked with animals; however, in her mind, her dream was set in stone ever since a rainy day in Valencia, the same year she had started riding competitively.

On understanding her dream job at a young age, Blanquez said: “I never really considered working anywhere else, to be honest. If I weren’t here, perhaps I’d have been a vet as I love animals, but I was always involved in this world and was racing by the time I was 13. I remember one time when my dad and I were at Valencia. We’d ridden from Barcelona with a group of people to watch the racing. It was raining hard, a disaster, and we were at the back of the pack, with mud everywhere. But I remember watching the race, pointing to the paddock, and telling my dad, “I’ll work here in the future, I’ll be here at this track”. I was 14 years old. Four years later, I started working for Derbi, so it took me four years to get there, but I got there.”

Catch Blanquez’s Bimota team in action this season as they return for their second season back in the World Championship with the WorldSBK VideoPass!