Carrasco makes history in Portimão

Twenty-year old Spanish racer Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki) made history at the Portuguese round of the 2017 Superbike World Championship on September 17 when she became the first female to win a FIM world championship motorcycle race against mixed opposition.

Racing in the event’s notoriously hard-fought world supersport 300 support category, it was Carrasco’s level head and experience which saw her take the win in a race where the first five riders over the line were separated by less than 0.4 seconds.

She was perfectly placed into last two corners of the race in second, and timed her drive out of the last corner flawlessly to use championship leader Alfonso Coppola’s (Yamaha) slipstream to get her over the line first, 0.053 seconds ahead.

“I am very happy about this result,” she said.

“I want to share it with all my team, we have worked very hard and we have been making progress in each race. I am very happy and I would like to thank all of them, as well as my sponsors, since without them this would not be possible.”

Marc Garcia (Yamaha), who trails Coppola in the title by just 1pt, crossed the line in third place, just 0.062 seconds behind Carrasco.

Carrasco’s win has moved her up to seventh overall in the title chase.

A familiar name in GP racing, Carrasco spent three seasons in the Moto3 world title before switching to the European Moto2 series in 2016. Lacklustre results saw her switch to the new world supersport 300 category at the beginning of 2017 where, before Portimão, she’d scored a highest finish of seventh place.