WorldWCR Debuts with Cremona Test
Rennie Scaysbrook | May 17, 2024
The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship season got underway with the first two-day test held at the Cremona Circuit near Milan, Italy, with Spanish 2018 World Supersport 300 Champion Ana Carrasco leading the combined Day One and Day Two timesheets.
With the field all on identical Yamaha YZF-R7 machinery, Day One saw inclement weather across much of the day’s running, ruining any chance of consistent fast laps, although American Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) enjoyed a highlight by going second fastest behind Taiwan’s Chun Mei Liu in the wet fourth session.
Former World Supersport 300 Champion Ana Carrasco went fastest at the WorldWCR series debuted in Italy.
Day Two’s fully dry conditions were more indicative of the WorldWCR pecking order as Carrasco took over top spot. The Spaniard finished the test an impressive 1.1 seconds up on Italian Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team), with Spain’s Sara Sanchez Tamayo rounding out the top three.
Australia’s Talya Relph took the honor of the fastest time during the opening Day One session but dropped to fourth at the end of Day Two, ahead of South Africa’s Jessica Howden and Dobbs completing a solid day’s running to finish sixth, 2.4s off Carrasco’s pace.
“We chipped away at it and set our fastest lap in the last session of the day so that’s been a real positive,” Dobbs said. “The homework is now figuring out what setting on the bike works for me having come from a supersport bike. The Yamaha requires a bit of a different riding style, so I’ll be prioritizing more seat time on the R7 to make sure we’re ready for Misano next month.”
American Mallory Dobbs ended the test sixth fastest.
In a trukly international field, rounding out the top 10 was the Czech Republic’s Adela Ourednickova, Germany’s Lucy Michel, Chile’s Isis Carreno Avila and Taiwan’s Chun Mei Liu.
The 2024 FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship will get underway with the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at the Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli on June 14th-16th.
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