World WCR rider’s racing Round 3 at Donington Park, UK this weekend, July 11 – 13. The battle for supremacy resumes with Klint Forward Racing Team rider – Maria Herrera – leading the Championship on 90 points followed by fellow Spaniard – Beatriz Neila on 77 and Italy’s Roberta Ponziani rounding out the top 3 on 69 points.
In what could be described as a tight, ultra competitive Series, racing at Donington Park will again test all rider’s ability to action race strategies with precision, drive, and determination to make points count at the half-way stage of the Championship. For the top tier of rider’s who competed in World WCR’s first season in 2024, results produced at the circuit add an extra dose of confidence with Herrera taking P4 and P1 at Donington Park last year, Neila finishing P2 and P4, Sara Sanchez taking P3 in both races, and Ponziani – P5 in Race 1.
Results produced at the Opening Round at Assen and Round 2 at Cremona this season gave insight on the level of competition between all rider’s with a mere gap of 0.173 between Herrera in P2 and Neila in P1 followed by 0.423 gap to Sanchez in P3 at Round 2, R2 in May. The fact that Herrera and Neila have stood on the podium in all 4 races with Maria claiming 2 wins and Beatriz one, coupled with Roberta taking P1 and P2 at Cremona and Sara finishing P3 x2 at Assen, all 19 rider’s on the grid have the next 3 Rounds to make the most of the opportunity to improve performances on the track.
Most certainly, NZ’s Avalon Lewis, Mexico’s rider – Astrid Madrigal, and Australia’s Full Throttle Racing rider – Tayla Relph have exceeded expectations of racing against the best women in Europe. Avalon – backed with a decade of race experience – proved more than capable of matching her peers with a best finish of P4 in Round 1, R1 at Assen. Now, as a mother of son – Nash – Avalon gains additional perspective for this weekend’s Round in the UK having raced at Donington Park in Supersport 300 World Championship in 2016 and 2017.
For Astrid and Tayla, qualifying times were similar in Round One and shifted slightly at Cremona with Madrigal claiming 1’40.644 and Relph – 1’42.182. Madrigal came into her own in Round 2 Race 1 finishing P4 followed by P6 in Race 2. Relph – having taken P3 at the circuit in World WCR 2024 – rounded out the 3rd and 4th races of the season in P7 and P10. Sanchez, Madrigal, Lewis and Relph currently stand P4, P5, P6, and P7 overall, respectively.
Heading into World WCR Round 3 at Donington Park this weekend, the fight for the top step will be down to who remains race-savvy under pressure, who manages their tyres under an expected air temperature of 31 degrees, and who puts their passion to win up front from qualifying, to Superpole, to Race 1, and Race 2 on Sunday, July 13.
Header photo: World World WCR 2025 Image: World WCR Graphics: MXLink
Words: Sharon Cox.
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