KIWI RIDER 09 2018 VOL.1 | Page 34

Female motorcycle racers are no longer a complete novelty but they ’ re still very much in the minority ( there are none at all , for example , in the world ’ s two biggest motorcycle championships – MotoGP and World Superbikes ) although Carrasco believes it ’ s getting easier for women to be involved . “ Every year it gets a bit more easy . It ’ s difficult for a young female rider to see how they can arrive in a world championship if they never see any other girls doing it . So if you are the first girl to do it then it ’ s more difficult but once you can see that other girls are doing it then you can think ‘ Why not ? Why can ’ t I do the same ?’ So , for the girls , it ’ s important that I ’ m doing a good job in the world championship . “ I think women can do the same as men in this sport . We are all just riders and we can all do the same thing . But it ’ s more difficult for women to find a good opportunity – a good team and a good bike . It ’ s more difficult for people to believe that we can win so we have many problems in getting access to competitive equipment to be fighting at the top . In this sport , if you do not have a good bike then you cannot fight to win .” As to the future , Carrasco already has some options on the table due to her incredible performances this year . But for now , she ’ s concentrating on the job in hand . “ I want to continue with Kawasaki because I am very happy with them and they are supporting me to be at the top . I would also like to continue with my team . But it will depend on what we achieve this year . I have some offers from the Moto3 World Championship and also from World Supersport

600 and World Supersport 300 teams . At the moment , I don ’ t know . I think around September time we will start to look more closely at next year but at the moment I just want to think about the championship .’ There are two rounds remaining of the World Supersport 300 Championship – at Portimao , Portugal , on September 16 , and at Magny-Cours , France , on September 30 . Carrasco has a healthy 16-point lead over Germany ’ s Luca Grunwald but with 25 points available for each race win , it ’ s still all to play for . One crash or mechanical breakdown could change everything , but Carrasco is confident . “ We have a good opportunity , we are in a good position in the championship , so I want to try to win at Portimao because I like this place . The circuit is good for me , so I would like to finish on the podium and win the championship there . But if not , then we will wait and try again in Magny- Cours . For sure we have a good opportunity and we are in the best position to win the championship .” The sport of motorcycle road racing has been around for well over 100 years but no woman has ever come this close to lifting a world title . So what would it mean to the petite , highly intelligent , and multi-lingual Spaniard if she could put an end to all that and finally prove beyond all doubt that women have a genuine place in motorcycle racing ? “ For me it would be a dream come true because , for my whole life , my dream is to be world champion and this year I have the opportunity so I want to give my best to try to win .”