A WOMAN has won a motorcycling world championship for the first time in history – Ana Carrasco, 21, netted the World Supersport 300 title on Sunday by just one point.
The Murcia-born 'Pink Warrior', as she is nicknamed on the circuit, became the youngest woman ever to compete in the world speed championships in Moto3 when she was just 16, but missed out on the title.
She was also the first woman to earn points at MotoGP level since Katja Poensgen in 2001– three years ago, when she came 15th at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
But she was unable to find sponsors for the 2017 season in Moto2, and opted to make the sideways move into Supersport 300.
She would very soon become the first woman to win a race in a world championship qualifier, being first past the checquered flag on the Algarve circuit in September 2017.
She reached the top of the standings in May this year, the first female ever to do so, at Donnington Park, where Ana also notched up another record: the first girl ever to take pole.
Just one single point separated Ana from her nearest rival when she scooped up the world championship title on Sunday – something she calls 'unbelievable' but admits she and her team have 'worked hard' to reach.
She dedicated her win to her late, great friend Luis Salom, who was killed in a crash during the practice round at the Catalunya Grand Prix in 2016.
Ana was very badly affected by Luis' death and had promised the Mallorca-born race rider posthumously that whenever she won a world championship, she would dedicate it to him.
Ana first rode a motorcycle when she was just three years old, in the year 2000, having more or less been surrounded by bikes from the womb: her dad was a mechanic for professional race-riders.
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