The Pros and Cons of a Women’s-Only World Motorcycle Championship
Guys and Gals, or... ?
By: Amanda Quick Source: WebBikeWorld
MotoGP 2023 has officially come to a close and Ducati’s won everything (again), snatching #50MotoGPwins for Team Red – well, one of the teams, at any rate.
The season’s successes will soon be followed by harder concessions (courtesy of Dorna’s recent talks with all teams involved); meanwhile, a gander at the MotoGP circuit reveals the usual lack of female pro talent, leading to the following question:
Has a woman ever ridden in MotoGP?
Patricia Fernandez (now Fernandez-West), American motorcycle racer and general circuit talent. Media courtesy of Patricia’s team.
To date, not a single woman in the history of MotoGP has finished a season on the Grand Prix’s grid (Gina Bovaird started a premier-class race, but that’s it)… so when a Women’s World Motorcycle Championship was announced back in October as a part of the World Superbike support bill in 2024, you could imagine the conflicted reactions:
Should male and female racers be in the same series?
Is the idea of a female-exclusive championship demeaning?
Mat Oxley – Isle of Man TT winner and a prolific writer – logs some perceptive responses from a hearty fistful of influential women riders.
First up: The 2023 Women’s European Champ, a 21-year-old Spaniard by the name of Beatriz Neila. Neila believes that anatomical differences are largely the reason for MotoGP’s male-dominant circuit:
– Beatriz Neila, Women’s European Champ (Mat Oxley, Motorsport Magazine) |
Next, words from a major icon of female racing. UK-based Maria Costello is the only woman to ever be awarded “Member of the Order of the British Empire” (MBE) – a well-deserved honor that speaks volumes on her accomplishments, but doesn’t come without its own sacrifices:
– Maria Costello, Women’s European Champ, MBE (Mat Oxley, Motorsport Magazine) Arguments posited by both Neila and Costello are legitimate… but what do the guys think about women having their own motorcycling championship?
A certain news editor by the name of Charlie Rous certainly left little to the imagination when speaking of the female role in racing as a whole (this was back in the 1960s):
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So where does this leave the Women’s World Motorcycle Championship?
So far, women from all corners of our industry show both love and lack thereof for a dedicated women’s only world racing event. As somebody who has never set wheel to a professional circuit but stands proud as a female motorcyclist, I will always be in support of opportunities that get female talent stretching muscles for the big leagues… but I don’t think the Women’s WMC need be a final stop, folks.
Coincidentally, neither does Oxley:
– Mat Oxley, Motorsport Magazine Big thanks to Mat for the continued inspiration to cover full-fueled topics like this; do you think the Women’s World Motorcycle Championship will be “a final destination for women racers?” *Media sourced from Ducati, as well as our own interview with Patricia Fernandez and Maria Costello’s Facebook page* |