Ana Carrasco has made history after becoming the first female rider to win a motorbike world championship.
The 21-year-old clinched the World Supersport 300 title in nailbiting fashion, winning the championship by a single point in Sunday’s final round at Magny-Cours. She had started in 25th place but fought through the pack to finish 13th.
Carrasco dedicated her championship to fellow Spanish rider Luis Salom, who died in a crash during practice in June 2016.
“It’s unbelievable for me, we worked so hard to be here,” she said. “I can only say thank you to all the Kawasaki team, I can only say thank you to David Salom and all the team, they worked hard to help me arrive here and also to my family because they gave me everything this year, and my friends. I wanted to dedicate this title to Luis Salom, we were good friends and the day we lost him I promised myself to dedicate my first title to him.”
Carrasco comes from a racing family: her father was a mechanic for professional riders. She started riding motorcycles when she was three, and debuted in international competition as a 16-year-old on the Moto3 circuit in 2013, when she became the first woman to score points in a world championship race since Katja Poensgen in 2001. Last year, she became the first woman to win an individual world championship motorcycle race after a victory in Portugal.