Ahead of the Pirelli French Round, echoes of the historic triumph achieved by Ana Carrasco (ETG Racing) two weeks ago at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve have not been forgotten. The 20-year-old Spanish rider became the first female to win a world-class race, and this milestone has put her on the pages of newspapers, international magazines and television sets.

"It's been a crazy week, because since I finished the race, I've been talking on the phone and travelling to do interviews," explains Carrasco in the attached video interview from WorldSBK.com. "It's been crazy, I am really happy to see how happy people are about this result as well." Carrasco explained last Saturday from the paddock of MotorLand Aragón, as she went to soak up the atmosphere of the Grand Prix (and where she was invited to sit at the press conference with the MotoGP™ stars).

It was at this circuit in Alcañiz which saw the Spaniard begin her adventure, in the inaugural event of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, and from the beginning Ana made explicit her ambitions in that new scenario. "I'm sure that everything I have learnt will serve me in WorldSSP300 to be able to be ahead. I have been fighting for Championships all my life, and I look forward to having the means to do it again. "

Five months later, the success achieved in Portugal certified that Carrasco's confidence in her talent was well founded. In a traditionally masculine sport, it has been her turn to make way in the competition. Now the new question is to find out what other amazing records she break in the future - whether on a Kawasaki Ninja 300 or with another machine - considering her youth and talent.

If Carrasco was the first to win, in the WorldSBK paddock there were other female predecessors who previously performed as ambassadors of motorcycling: American Melissa Paris is officially the first woman to participate in the Supersport World Championship as a wild card in the seventh Round of 2009, held at Miller Motorsports Park (USA). Italian Paola Cazzola participated a year later in five Rounds of WorldSSP and she secured a total of three points, making her the first and only female rider to score points in this class. Long before however, the German Katja Poensgen had already competed in a wild card race. It was at the Nurburgring in 1998, the year before the World Supersport Series became the current Supersport World Championship. Other riders to have raced in the WorldSBK series are the Canadian Marie-Josée Boucher, the British Jenny Tinmouth and the Hungarian Nikolett Kovacs – who have all made at least one WorldSSP appearance.

Other well-known names, such as Maria Costello, Lucy Glöckner or Poensgen, competed in the past in the Superstock 1000 category, while in the history of the now-defunct Superstock 600 European Championship, there are appearances by figures such as Rebecca Bianchi, Marketa Janakova , Ricarda Neubauer and Alessia Polita.

More recently, New Zealand's Avalon Biddle won the FIM European Women's Cup in 2015 and 2016, and this year she debuted in WorldSSP300 with the same frame as Carrasco but returned home to New Zealand to battle in the national championships, meaning she was replaced from Lausitzring onwards. In Jerez, however, the wild card will reappear as Andrea Sibaja, who has already made a point debut in the category in the Round of Aragon. So, subject as they to the ups and downs of the competition, women struggle to break through in the territory of speed and the success of Carrasco certainly marks a milestone on the road.