‘It’s difficult to do both things because I spend
so much time away from home but now I’m
in a sports university where many Olympic
athletes study so they give me the possibility
to change the dates of my exams if I am racing.
So I try to work out my study and exams
calendar according to the racing calendar. It’s
a four-year course and I am in my second year
now.
“I don’t know for sure if I will be a lawyer
after racing but this is my Plan B! I want to be
a racer and be riding for many years but, if
not, then at least I have another plan to be a
normal person and to have a job and a family
and everything.”
Perhaps even more impressive – and certainly
testimony to her determination and will to
win – Carrasco also maintains a brutal training
regime that would qualify as a full-time job in
itself. ‘I train around six hours every day’ she
says. “I go to the gym for about three or four
hours and then ride dirt bikes for another few
hours.”
It’s this kind of commitment that sees Carrasco
regularly beating an entire field full of men
and her reward is the sheer satisfaction that
generates. “Yes, for me it’s good!” she laughs.
“This is a motivation to show the people that
women can do the same. This is what I want
– I want to win in a world championship so
I can show that I can beat the best riders in
the world in that class. So, I want to be always
better and better and better and to arrive at
the top.”
It’s perhaps not easy for every male psyche to
handle being beaten by a woman (in the past,
they’ve also had to accept Carrasco’s own take
on the brolly dolly – she had her own umbrella
fella on the grid!) especially in a sport that has
for so long been male-dominated. So how do
her rivals treat her? Does she get the respect
she deserves or does she get shunned by
bitter, defeated rivals? “For sure they respect
me because if you are fast, everybody respects
you! I’ve shown them that I can win races
and fight for the championship so I think
everybody respects me now.”
Testosterone is not always a man’s best friend.
Often it can lead to rash decisions out on track
and crazy do-or-die lunges that have little
chance of working and every chance of ending
in crashes and broken bones. In the sport, this
kind of aggression is known as ‘red mist’ and
it’s the one area where Carrasco thinks female
riders may actually have a slight advantage
over the men. “Sometimes it helps to be a
woman, yes. Women think more when they are
on the bike! The men are more brave but they
sometimes make dangerous moves without
thinking and sometimes this is not so good!
I think in my case I have a slight advantage
here because I always stay calm and think a lot
about what I have to do out on the race track.”