Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) has been making waves in motorsport throughout her career and that continued in the inaugural FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship. Six wins and nine podiums in 12 races helped the #6 to a title challenge, ultimately finishing in second, but now is your chance to learn more about the WorldSSP points scorer.
ONE OF MOTORSPORT’S TOP FEMALE ACHIEVERS: success wherever she’s raced
Spanish rider Maria Herrera has been involved in elite level motorcycle racing for more than a decade and is one of the most experienced and talented riders in the WorldWCR. She has competed successfully against some of the best male riders in the world in the Moto3™ World Championship and WorldSSP300 and this year she combines her bid to become the first ever WorldWCR title winner with participation in the MotoE™ Championship for a sixth consecutive season, now riding for the Klint Forward Factory Team.
THE START OF AN ADVENTURE ON TWO WHEELS: starting to ride aged 6
Herrera started riding at six years old, encouraged by her brothers and her father, who himself was already a keen motorcyclist. Her first bike was a Polini minibike which her father had also raced on, and she recalls riding tirelessly, “until the gas ran out”. She also happily remembers, “When I ran my first race and finished third, I was 6 years old. I have a memory that they gave me €30, and I shared it with my two brothers.”
OROPESA AND TALAVERA DE LA REINA: training with Bautista
Born in Oropesa (Toledo), just to the southwest of Madrid, Herrera is a friend and training partner of double WorldSBK World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who comes from Talavera de la Reina, another nearby small town. The two fierce competitors have known each other for many years and Herrera describes Bautista as her favourite rider, respecting him for his, “resilience and discipline in life”. She explains, “I’ve always trained with my father or with Alvaro Bautista and I always wanted to beat him in training, so it’s just normal to battle with him.”
A RAPID RISE TO THE TOP: success from the start
Having raced in Spanish junior and national championships, Herrera became the first female competitor to win a race in the FIM CEV Repsol series in 2013. That year she also made guest appearances in the Moto3™ World Championship at the Spanish rounds as a wildcard, doing the same in 2014. Then in 2015 she participated in her first full Grand Prix season, sharing a box with fellow Spaniard Isaac Vinales at the Husqvarna Factory Laglisse team and producing some strong performances which helped her to score nine points in her debut campaign. Having suffered some bad luck in 2016, she rode again the following year for the new coming AGR Team Moto3™ squad, switching to WorldSSP300 for 2018, which saw her record a best race result of fourth as well as several top ten finishes. In 2019 she moved to MotoE™ with the Angel Nieto Team for a fresh challenge and her first season competing on electric motorcycles featured a best result of fifth in Misano. Herrera has continued in MotoE™ in recent years and is now competing in the championship for a sixth successive campaign, which has seen her on the starting line in 60 races, adding to her total of 54 Grands Prix appearances in Moto3™, making her one of the most experienced elite level female riders in the world.
MARIA EXPLAINS: her role of promoting and coaching female riding talent
“It’s a pleasure for me to help other girls,” began Herrera. “I am in the RFME helping in the women’s commission giving training courses to younger and older riders. I have a campus, training girls from 5 years old up to 45 or 50! It’s special to spend time with all the girls and share my experience from Moto3™ and MotoE™. They ask me questions and it is good to pass time with the younger generation of riders. I love it. Also, the values. We have to transmit the values of this sport, and this is good. To respect your opponents. You have to push to the limit, but you have to respect your opponents. In the new Championship many girls come to my box and they ask me how they can improve on some corners or some places on the track and I can give them some advice. For me that’s good, because in the future they will become the present. For me it is my moment, but I also want to see other women at the top level, so it’s important for me to be a reference for them. Now they have a Championship where they can have a lot of fun and learn from high-level competition. I think it is a total success because now all the girls can see us.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com