FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship action has kicked off 2025 action with their Tissot Superpole session. Ringing in the second ever WorldWCR campaign, Assen’s Pirelli Dutch Round played host in the first event of their season, a Superpole session in which Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Racing Team) established herself at the top of the timesheet and as the current favourite for the Championship. Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) and Sara Sanchez (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) rounded out Friday’s second Spanish top three position lockout in P2 and P3 respectively

HERRERA DOMINANT: Claims pole with margin of more than a second

Herrera claimed a commanding lead early in the session, a margin she maintained throughout the session, finishing with a fastest lap of 1’48.146s to secure the 2025 season’s first pole. Nelia maintained P2 from her first lap until her last, steadily cutting down her margin behind Herrera as the session went on, but she still will need to find something atop her Yamaha R7 to catch her compatriot in P1. Rounding out the first row, Sara Sanchez (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) finished P3, the 2024 third place finisher finished with a time of 1’49.246s

STRONG SHOWING FROM LEWIS AND RELPH: Australian and New Zealander in second row

New Zealander Avalon Lewis (Carl Cox Motorsports) started her season strong after a similarly quick FP1, she will start the second row in Race 1 on Saturday 1’49.315s. Roberta Ponziani (Klint Forward Racing Team) finished under a tenth of a second behind Lewis for P5. Australian rider Tayla Relph’s (Full Throttle Racing) 1’50.410s lap earned her a second-row finish for P6.

NARROW MARGINS IN ROW 3: around two tenths cumulatively separating P7-P9

Chloe Jones (GR Motorsport) impressed in her P7 placement in the Superpole session, her 1’50.435s lap narrowly missing out on row two by just 0.025s. Isis Carreno (Pons Italika Racing FIMLA) claimed a position in P8 via her tenth-lap 1’50.601s lap. Just 0.032s behind the Chilean, German rider Lucy Michel (TSL-Racing) will round out the from three rows of Saturday’s WorldWCR Race 1 from P9 due to her 1’50.633

FREE PRACTICE 1 RECAP: Herrera P1, Sanchez P2, Nelia P3

Earlier in the day, the WorldWCR grid took to the track for their Free Practice 1, Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Racing Team) topping the session by nearly a full second. Following her across the finish line was Sara Sanchez (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) in P2, and Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) to complete a Spanish lockout of the top three on the session.

The top six from the WorldWCR Superpole Race, full results here!