WORDS: Stuart Barker
PHOTO: Kawasaki Racing
RACING’S
FIRST LADY:
ANA CARRASCO
She’s 21-years-old, stands five-
foot-one, and weighs eight stone,
wringing wet. But don’t let that fool
you. Ana Carrasco is one tough little
Spaniard. She’s the first woman in
the 100-years-plus history of the
sport to lead a motorcycle road racing
world championship. She was also the
first woman to set pole position and
the first to win a race and, with just two rounds remaining of the World
Supersport 300 Championship, she has
a healthy 16-point lead – against an
entire field of men.
Oh, and she’s also half way through
a four-year law degree and trains
six hours every day. Are you starting
to feel a bit inadequate? You should
be. Meet Ana Carrasco – the fastest
female motorcycle racer of all time.
omen have not always been
welcomed in the sport of motorcycle
road racing. Original regulations
laid down by the FIM (Federation
Internationale de Motocyclisme) in
the early days of racing dictated that
competitors must be ‘male persons
between 18 and 55 years of age.’ This
ruling didn’t apply to Sidecar racing so
in 1954 the intrepid German, Inge Stoll-
Laforge, caused a sensation by entering
the Isle of Man TT – the biggest motorcycle
race in the world at the time. She finished
in a highly credible 5th position but was
tragically killed four years later in a crash
at the Czech Grand Prix.
By 1962 the FIM had changed its rules
and allowed women to race so Beryl Swain
became the first female solo rider at the
TT, finishing 22nd in the 50cc race before
the FIM did an about-turn and banned women again in 1963.
Despite this historical backdrop of
rampant sexism, a handful of brave,
determined women have persisted in
blazing a trail for female riders in one of
the world’s most dangerous sports. Riders
like Maria Costello have scored podiums at
the Manx Grand Prix (the ‘amateur’ TT) and
Carolyn Sells became the first woman to
win a Manx in 2009 while Jenny Tinmouth
(the fastest woman ever at the TT with an
average lap speed of 119.94mph) recently
became the first female rider to compete
in the prestigious British Superbike
Championship. Germany’s Katja Poensgen
won the Supermono Championship in
1998 and women have scored points in
the Grand Prix world championships, the
first being Taru Rinne with a seventh-place
finish at Hockenheim in 1989.
KIWI RIDER 25