After an amazing 2025 season of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship featuring neck-and-neck battles up and down the order, Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Racing Team) overcame setbacks and letdowns like her 2024 catastrophe at the very same circuit to set the record straight and etch her name into the history books. Her rivalry for the world title with her compatriot Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) made for some of the best racing this young Championship has yet seen, and with both riders set to return next season, fans are already waiting in anticipation for more photo finishes in 2026.
AT LONG LAST: “I dreamed of this from last year, I couldn’t achieve it then, but I worked very very hard with my team to make it happen this year”
Part of what made her 2025 triumph so meaningful to Herrera was her disappointment at the hands of a crash out of the final race of the season. Race 2 in 2024 saw the Toledo native crash out of the fight for the win on the final lap. Her DNF spelled heartbreak for Herrera while Ana Carrasco rode to glory and lifted the title. Herrera’s determination and resilience to come back from such a blow were in part forged through her experience in other categories, such as Moto3 European Championship, Moto3, Moto2, WorldSSP300, WorldSSP, and, most recently, MotoE, where she has competed both there and in WorldWCR for the last 2 seasons with her KLINT Forward Racing Team.
On what her achievement means to her, and what enabled her to get here, Herrera said: “I dreamed of this from last year, I couldn’t achieve it then, but I worked very, very hard with my team to make it happen this year. I enjoyed this season much more than last. I’ve ridden a lot of bikes across a lot of different Championships, but it’s always difficult to fight for a title. This category is growing and getting better step by step, and this year was hard until the very end. This made it very emotional for me, and I’m proud of our accomplishment.”
OVERCOMING PAST STRUGGLES: “I thought too much about last year’s crash in Cremona; it weighed on me”
One of the season’s turning points in her eyes was Round 2’s return to Cremona for the Acerbis Italian Round. Last season, the #6 suffered a hard spill into the gravel there, which she admits continued to burden her mentally even into the 2025 campaign. After topping the podium in Race 1, she and fellow Spanish rider Sara Sanchez (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) got tangled up in Turn 11, which meant that she dropped vital points to the eventual Champion. In 2025, however, she faced her demons head-on and resolved not to let the crash affect how she rides. She made a strong move late in Race 2 to close the door on Neila, winning her the race and increasing her lead atop the Championship order from four points to 13 – points that would later prove vital to her play for the crown.
On her rebound from Cremona 2024 and her breakdown of this season at the same venue: “I had to be on the podium every race and not crash. In some races, I thought too much about last year’s crash in Cremona; it weighed on me. I wanted to finish this season as soon as possible because I was riding well, and my goal was to finish first. At Cremona this season, I had a good pace and was strong, but in the straight, Beatriz could overtake me more easily than usual. I knew at the braking points she could try to overtake me, but this is one of my strong suits on the bike. I tried to close the door and ride through the corner as I would normally, but Beatriz was on my line, so sorry.”
THIRD TIMES’ THE CHARM: “In the Spanish Championship, I lost, in 2024, I lost the Championship, so in the third chance I needed to win”
The Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, Andalucia set the stage once again for Herrera as she arrived at the final Pirelli Spanish Round with the title hanging in the balance. She held a tenuous six-point lead over the #36, but as she was keenly aware from her 2024 misfortune, anything can happen in racing. She started the weekend strong by taking pole, then further helped her play for the title by winning Race 1 while her primary adversary Neila, finished in P3, meaning that by Race 2, Herrera sported a 15-point advantage over her title rival. A factor few saw coming was the stunning speed on display by the rookie making her wildcard appearance, Paola Ramos (YVS Sabadell). Ramos was in the fight at the front from the beginning of the weekend, but in Race 2, she quickly ran away from the pack and kept the hammer down to claim P1 and its haul of 25 points, indirectly helping Herrera as it prevented the maximum haul Neila could have taken.
On the decisive final race of 2025 at Jerez and what it meant to her, Hererra said: “It was a little difficult because we only had a lead of six points, but I arrived calm. I achieved pole position which I didn’t expect. I felt good, but the second race was hard. I didn’t want to overtake Bea too many times because she was being very aggressive, and I think too much at times. I tried to just stay on the bike and finish the race. I was nervous in Race 2 when I saw a group of 12 behind me, I thought ‘wow, amazing’, so I was a little nervous because I couldn’t control P1 after some rider pushed me on the rear tyre. This was difficult to manage, but I had the level to battle in the last lap. My strategy was to let Paola go fast and go away from us, and keep Bea behind me in P2 or P3. I think managing the race like this was risky; the group was a little slower because Bea was closing the door on everyone. I made a mistake on the last lap; I was super close to Pakita; she and I were a little outside. Roberta and Chloe overtook me, and I thought, I need to overtake someone. In the end, I finished P6, but I’ll take it. In the Spanish Championship, I lost. In 2024, I lost the Championship, so in the third chance I needed to win, and I did it. It was amazing to win with all of my family and fans here; it’s a special track for me.”
SLIM MARGINS FOR ERROR: “Consistency is the key of this Championship”
Having gotten the monkey off her back and finished the season as World Champion after late letdowns in seasons past, Herrera has finally hit her mark and achieved her first world title. With this accolade in her trophy cabinet, she now looks ahead to 2026, where the bar continues to be raised, setting the table for a raucous 2026 title defence campaign as her rivals will try to dethrone the #6.
On what she thought was her key to her long-awaited success in 2025, Hererra said: “Consistency is the key of this Championship. I knew from last year that if you crash once, you can lose the Championship. I think that Beatriz worked very hard this offseason. At the beginning of the season, she was very fast. Finally, I finished well, working very hard, but sometimes it’s very hard to finish first in something. I have a good level, but here, the level is very high, and we all have the same bikes. I think the Championship is getting better and better. I want to continue because the level is high. If the same Champion always won, it’s a bit boring, so I want to continue battling here.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com
