The WorldWCR, the full name of which is the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship, was the first world championship for women in circuit racing to make its debut last weekend in Misano. The premiere was eagerly awaited and showed both the best part of motorcycling and its dark side.
Let’s start with the positive: what women like Maria Herrera, Ana Carrasco and Sara Sanchez showed at the front of the 26-strong field was racing at its finest. In both races, the decision was only made in the last lap. Herrera in particular shone with impressive maneuvers. That definitely made us want more!
But the great performances of Herrera and co. were overshadowed by a series of serious accidents this weekend. The first race was just five laps old when Norwegian Mia Rusthen crashed heavily in the final corner. The race was abandoned as a result. As the 22-year-old’s family announced in the evening, Rusthen suffered serious head injuries. She underwent surgery to relieve the pressure in her head and to stop bleeding. She is currently in an artificial coma.
At the restart of the race, the WorldWCR narrowly avoided another dramatic accident. Jessica Howden crashed at the exit of Turn 2, but luckily the drivers behind her were all able to avoid her. Howden also had to be flown to hospital for treatment, but was always conscious. The race was stopped again. The second restart was not without a moment of shock either: Austrian Lena Kemmer crashed into the pit wall after a collision, but was uninjured.
Wrong motorcycle for the Women’s World Championship?
A frightening accumulation of serious accidents that should give those responsible something to think about. Because some decisions made in the run-up to the premiere do not seem to have been really well thought out. Firstly, there is the choice of the standard motorcycle. The Yamaha R7 used is basically driven in series specification and has a riding weight of 188 kilograms, making it more than 30 kilograms heavier than a MotoGP bike. For the mostly comparatively small and light women, this is a huge lump that can cause serious injuries in the event of a fall and is generally difficult to ride.
This is all the more true when the starters are given so little preparation time, as was the case in WorldWCR. Just two official test days were organized in Cremona in mid-May. Then there was almost a month of peace before the women were sent off into a hectic first race weekend. After a half-hour training session on Friday morning, the Superpole in the afternoon was about achieving tangible results in the form of starting positions.
Colorful mix instead of maximum class?
The fact that this was not enough for some participants was evident from the time differences. In the Superpole, there was a gap of more than eight seconds between places 1 and 26. And in the races, the stragglers also lost an average of more than seven seconds per lap. If the usual 107 percent rule in qualifying had not been dispensed with in the WorldWCR, not all drivers would have been allowed to start. It can be assumed that the field will be pushed closer together in the future. The question of whether all drivers are really up to the enormous challenge of a world championship must nevertheless be allowed. If the 26 women ultimately selected come from 18 countries, one cannot help but suspect in motorcycle sport, which is otherwise not very diverse in terms of nationality, that those in charge were simply trying to create as diverse a field as possible in order to do full justice to the title of world championship. A nice idea, but one that can quickly become extremely dangerous in this still dangerous sport. Misano was a strong warning shot that the decision-makers should not ignore!