Meet the WorldWCR Class of 2025

Ahead of the second season of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR) this weekend, let’s meet the 24 riders who will race in the premier class of women’s motorcycle racing this year.

In 2024 WorldWCR had its inaugural season, which saw 24 riders race for the title over six rounds held in four European countries. The season was dominated by Ana Carrasco, who claimed the title in a dramatic season finale in Jerez.

This year, the grid is made up of 24 riders from 13 different countries and many of them have already taken part in the 2024 season, either as wild card entries or as part of the permanent line-up. Reigning champion Carrasco will not be returning to the series, moving on to the Supersport World Championship, where she will compete in the WorldSSP Challenge.

Pre-season testing at Cremona Circuit.

Here is the WorldWCR class of 2025:

#4 Emily Bondi

The 23-year-old French rider is only entering her third season in motorcycle racing. She won the French title in the 600 class in 2023, and closed last year’s WorldWCR season in 15th place. Bondi is set to return to the grid with Zelos Trasimeno.

Bondi’s love for motorcycles started at a young age, riding on the back of her parents’ bikes.

#6 María Herrera

Spanish rider Herrera has a brilliant track record in motorcycle racing. She has previously competed in Supersport 300 World Championship (WorldSSP300), WorldSSP, and Moto3. In 2013, she was the first woman to win a race in the FIM CEV Repsol Series.

Herrera is the returning vice-champion of the 2024 WorldWCR season, with six wins and nine podiums. The 2025 season will see the 28-year-old race in both WorldWCR and MotoE, where she has been competing since 2019. In both championships she will race for KLINT Forward Racing Team.

#8 Tayla Relph

When Relph was young, her love for motorsport made her a target of bullying at school. Now, the 28-year-old Australian rider is about to start her second season in WorldWCR, after a debut season that saw her seventh in the championship and once on the podium. In her career she has previously competed in the 300 class at a national level. She will compete for TAYCO Motorsport.

#14 Mallory Dobbs

31-year-old Dobbs learned how to ride a motorcycle at the age of 22, and is only in her fourth year of professional racing. She competed in the American Supersport and Super Hooligan Championships before entering WorldWCR last year, where she finished 11th in the standings. The American rider also took part in the 2024 FIM Intercontinental Games in the Supersport 300 class. Her bike will be fielded by MKD Racing team.

#15 Chloe Jones

Jones, 21, entered as a wild card in Jerez last year, where she achieved a best result of sixth. She also came in fifth in the 2024 Tracker Kawasaki British Superteen Championship, a series supporting the British Superbike Championship. The British rider has paired with GR Motorsport for the season.

#16 Lucy Michel

Michel, from Germany, returns to WorldWCR after closing in 16th place last season. Competing since the age of eight, the 20-year-old has raced in series such as the IDM Supersport 300 Championship and the ADAC Junior Cup. Michel will compete for TSL-Racing.

#17 Lucie Boudesseul

The French rider will debut in WorldWCR with GMT94-Yamaha. Boudesseul, 21, has spent several seasons in the French Superbike Championship, where she made her mark by recording the best lap time ever for a female rider in the 1000 category at Carole circuit.

#19 Adela Ourednickova

Ourednickova first started riding a minibike at her father’s motorcycle dealership, on a makeshift track she had set up using spare tyres. The Czech rider competed in the 2023 IDM Supersport 300 Championship (the same as Michel), and closed the 2024 WorldWCR season in 13th place. The 19-year-old is set to return to the grid with DafitMotoracing.

#20 Natalia Rivera

At 18 years old, Rivera is the youngest driver on the grid, making her debut in WorldWCR with Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team. Despite her young age, the Spanish rider has plenty of experience: she holds the 2024 Women’s European Championship title, after being crowned vice-champion in 2023.

#21 Avalon Lewis

32-year-old Lewis raced as a wild card in Cremona last season, where she achieved a best result of fifth. She will race for the same team that supported her wild card entry, Carl Cox Motorsports. The New Zealander rider is a two-time winner of the Women’s European Cup and previously raced in WorldSSP300.

#22 Madalena Simões

A long-time motorsport fan before she was a racer, the Portuguese rider began competing at 17 years old: she entered the Portuguese Moto5 championship, won her first race, and finished her season second overall. Now, 24-year-old Simões is about to start her rookie season in WorldWCR, competing for FR Racing team.

#28 Ornella Ongaro

After a four-year career break, French rider Ongaro, 34, entered the first season of WorldWCR and finished 10th in the standings. She has a strong racing background, having competed against the likes of Marc Marquez in junior categories, and winning the 2016 FFM Women’s Cup. She will race for Ongaro Racing Team.

#29 Billee Fuller

The 21-year-old New Zealander will compete for the first time in WorldWCR with Carl Cox Motorsports, after several seasons in the New Zealand Superbike Championship. She is the winner of the 2024 WIL Sport Women’s Cup and the Carl Cox Motorsport Ninja Cup.

#32 Sonya Lloyd

After a wild card appearance in Jerez last year, the 22-year-old American rider will return for her first full season in WorldWCR racing for Team Trasimeno. Lloyd competed in the 2024 MotoAmerica Twins Cup, where she was the top female finisher.

#33 Chun Mei Liu

At 43 years old, Liu is the oldest rider on the grid, returning to the championship with WT Team Taiwan after finishing in 14th place last year. The Taiwanese rider has taken part in national and international competitions in Asia and Europe over the years.

#36 Beatriz Neila

Neila, from Spain, closed last season in fourth place, achieving four podiums. This year, she will compete for Ampito Crescent Yamaha.

The 22-year-old holds three Women’s European Cup titles and one Women’s European Championship title, and competed in WorldSSP300 both as a wild card and as a permanent driver. In 2019, Neila was the first woman to attend the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp at Valentino Rossi’s Motor Ranch.

#46 Francisca “Pakita” Ruiz

The Spanish rider received her first minibike as a present when she was three years old, but her mother hid it until she was seven: six months after finding her minibike, Ruiz entered her first race. The 27-year-old held the women’s Spanish Superbike title for seven years in a row. In 2020, she won the Yamaha R6 Cup as the only female participant.

She returns to WorldWCR with PR46+1 Racing Team, after finishing last season sixth in the standings.

#52 Jessica Howden

23-year-old Howden finished last season in 17th place, despite suffering an injury after a fall during Round 1. This year, the South African rider returns to WorldWCR with Team Trasimeno.

#64 Sara Sánchez

Last year, Sánchez gained third place in the championship, with one win and nine podiums. The Spanish rider, 27, has previously competed in WorldSSP300 as a replacement rider, and was twice Women’s European Cup vice-champion. She will race for Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team.

#76 Jamie Hanks-Elliott

The British rider, 21 years old, entered three rounds of the past season as a replacement for injured rider Alyssa Whitmore. She will enter the championship with Hanks Racing.

Hanks-Elliott is the granddaughter of Rose Hanks, the first woman to achieve a podium at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy in 1968.

#83 Astrid Madrigal

Madrigal, 25, returns to the championship with ITALIKA Racing FIMLA, after an eighth place last season. Over the years, the Mexican rider has won national, Latin American, and Pan American titles. In 2023 she raced in WorldSSP300 as a wildcard entry, becoming the first female Latin American rider to ever take part in the championship.

#94 Beatrice Barbera

The 30-year-old Italian rider makes her full-time championship debut after last year’s wild card participation in Misano. She will race with Team GP3 TM36, which she co-founded in 2020 to help women pursue their career in motorcycle racing.

#96 Roberta Ponziani

28-year-old Ponziani started racing at nine years old, fascinated by the minibike track by her house. The Italian rider went on to finish in third place in the Women’s European Championship for four years in a row, and won the 2023 Women’s CIV Championship. 

In her first WorldWCR season she finished fifth in the standings, with one podium. The Italian rider has paired up with KLINT Forward Racing Team for the upcoming season.

#99 Isis Carreno

25-year-old Carreno, from Chile, returns to WorldWCR with ITALIKA Racing FIMLA after a 12th place in the standings last year. Over the course of her career she has claimed Latin American and Pan American titles. She has also competed in the Supersport 300 World Championship and in the Women’s European Cup.

The 2025 season of WorldWCR gets underway on 11-13 April at TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, alongside the Superbike World Championship weekend.

All photos courtesy of WorldWCR Media.