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Every race decided by less than a second. Three different winners and six different podium finishers. Countless dreams turned into a reality and memories made to last a lifetime. The inaugural FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship has been nothing short of remarkable and now, it’s down to the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto to decide the first-ever Champion in the class. It’s a showdown between Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros. Racing Yamaha Team) and Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) with just 18 points splitting them, whilst the Championship’s most-recent race winner Sara Sanchez (Terra&Vita 511 Racing Team) has a tiny chance if things should take a turn ahead of her.

THE HEAVYWEIGHT FINALE: Carrasco vs Herrera in history-making title race

She may have four wins in comparison to Herrera’s five but Ana Carrasco is leading the Championship into the final round of the season. The mathematics are simple: if she wins Race 1, Herrera must be second to deny Carrasco the title. If Herrera wins both races, Carrasco must be P2 at least once, as two P3s will only tie her on points but she’ll lose out on countback of wins. A dramatic end to WorldWCR’s first season but the one it deserves. Herrera has beaten the likes of Fabio Quartararo at Jerez in JuniorGP™ a decade ago, whilst Carrasco has had her own wins at the track, back in WorldSSP300 in 2019. Both are the heavyweights of the class and the obvious target for Sanchez. A costly Cremona crash has halted a realistic chance of the title, however, if there was to be a first incident of the year between the two girls ahead of her, then she would be in a prime place to take advantage and inject another breath into her title chances. Slim yes but impossible, no. This is motorcycle racing after all.

OUTSIDE THE TITLE FIGHT: Neila seeking to confirm her ‘best of the rest’ status

Awsy from the top three and the title fight, Beatriz Neila (Ampito/Pata Prometeon Yamaha) returned to the rostrum last time at Estoril and now, she gets to showcase her talents again at a circuit she knows well. It’s a pleasing circularity for Neila and WorldWCR overall, as this was the circuit where the first demonstration lap was undertaken by Neila herself. Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team) is 27 behind Neila and struggled to emulate her Cremona podium feat at Estoril. Pakita Ruiz (46+1 Racing Team) sits sixth and can leapfrog Ponziani if the Italian has a tricky weekend, whilst Tayla Relph (TAYCO Motorsport) is a solid seventh and hopes to finish 2024with top five results, having tested at Jerez. Mexican rider Astrid Madrigal (ITALIKA Racing FIMLA) has been one of the riders in form of recent rounds with six consecutive top ten finishes; can Jerez see her crack the top five? Ran Yochay’s (Terra&Vita 511 Racing Team) season has had a mid-season dip meaning she’ll be extra motivated for top ten finishes this weekend, whereas completing the top ten is Ornella Ongaro (Ongaro Racing Team).

REASON TO BELIEVE: concluding 2024 on a high

A best weekend of 2024 last time out for Adela Ourednickova (DafitMotoracing by Smrz) saw her in the top ten in both races, whilst it was also the biggest points haul of Mallory Dobbs’ (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) season with eighth and seventh at Estoril. Chun Mei Liu’s (WT Racing Team Taiwan) season has been cut short after her Race 1 crash at Estoril, leaving her vulnerable to the opposition behind in the standings. Emily Bondi (YART Zelos Black Knights Team) ties Liu on 31 right now, with Chilean Isis Carreno (AD78 FIM Latinoamerica by Team GP3) just one point further back, also tied with Lucy Michel (TSL-Racing). Carreno’s return from injury at Estoril welcomed her back to the points with 13^th in Race 1 before moving into P9 in Race 2. Nicole van Aswegen (Andalaft Racing) remains out after her leg fracture at Portimao, meaning home-hero Andrea Sibaja (Deza – Box 77 Racing Team) will look to end her year at home on a positive note, with three straight points-scoring rides in as many races. Austria’s Lena Kemmer (Bertl K. Racing Team) completes the top 20 and aims to return to the points after missing them in both races at Estoril for the first time in 2024.

POINTS TO PROVE: 2024’s final hurrah with a plan to end on a high

Luna Hirano (Team Luna) has had four points-scoring finishes in 2024 with a top ten at Donington Park but missed the points in the last three races; can she showcase her potential this weekend? Jessica Howden’s (Team Trasimeno) pace is there but getting points and the bike to the end of races has been a struggle – a previous test at Jerez may help her cause this weekend. Colombian rider Sara Varon (ITALIKA Racing FIMLA) seeks her first points of 2024 after missing the opening two rounds through injury and the rider from Ibague does come from her best weekend of the year at Estoril. Iryna Nadieieva (MPS.RT) remains out, as does Alyssia Whitmore (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) – the British rider is replaced by Jamie Hanks-Elliott for Jerez after bagging the team their first double points-scoring ride of the year.

There are two new faces on the grid for this round too, with British ace Chloe Jones (GR Motosport) debuting for Brent Gladwin’s team – Gladwin is no stranger to World Championship paddocks, having fielded WorldSBK wildcards before and also take the European Superstock 1000 crown in 1999 with Karl Harris; his team have won plenty of titles in British Superbike classes and this year, took their first win. The other rider is American Sonya Lloyd (Lloyd Motorsports), as she doubles up the American contingency on the grid with both aiming to score points in their debut weekend.

JOIN THE COMMUNITY: Follow WorldWCR on X, Instagram and Facebook and watch all the races FREE on YouTube! Races get underway on Saturday and Sunday at 12:45, with Tissot Superpole starting on Friday at 14:00. All times are local (UTC +1).