The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship closed out its season at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia on Sunday, October 18th, drawing the curtains on a Pirelli Spanish Round that, for the third consecutive season, saw the Riders’ title fight come down to the final round. Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) would have had to have pulled off a miracle in Race 1 to prevent Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) from being named World Champion, but the Madrid native was once again the most consistent rider in the category, sealing the season with a second P2 from the round for her 11th podium out of 12 races.
FIGHTING FOR P1 IN A TITLE-DECIDING RACE 1
Neila arrived to Jerez with her back against the ropes in the Championship battle; Herrera held a 44-point lead with only 50 points left to play for, meaning she needed just six points over the course of the weekend to be named Champion. Neila took P3 in the Tissot Superpole session, just over a tenth behind the #6. Neila took P2 from Herrera on the opening lap, then tailed Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) in P1 over the first five laps before the #58 was issued a double Long Lap penalty for a jump start by FIM WorldSBK Stewards. Neila led by as much as 3.4 seconds at the close of Lap 7 before a storming comeback by Ramos saw the Madrid native to P2. Herrera’s P6 finish was enough to be named World Champion for the second consecutive year.
“I’M HAPPY, I DID MY BEST, AND I FINISHED THE RACE WELL”
Race 2 saw Neila start from second, battling Herrera in the early laps for P2. The #36 traded P2 with the 2026 Champion over the first four laps, and while she was more than nine tenths clear of Herrera at the close of Lap 4, catching Ramos ahead of her would prove a tall order. Neila hung within a second of the rookie for the entire race, and by Lap 8, the margin was just 0.162s. Despite Neila’s final two laps clocking in faster than Ramos’s times, the rookie got the job done to close the season atop the rostrum, leaving Neila with her seventh silver medal of the season.
On her season’s final race, Neila said: “The race was super good, more or less the same as yesterday, but Paola and I fought at the front after we created a gap. I’m happy, I did my best, and I finished the race well. The fight at the last part of the race was good. When I saw on my pitboard that the rider behind us was close, I tried to stay calm and to stay with Pao as I was in the podium places. I wanted to make a move in the last corner, but she closed the door and made it impossible. Finishing on the podium in the last race of the season makes me happy.”
“THE WORDS I’D USE TO DESCRIBE MY SEASON WOULD BE: CONSISTENT, PROFESSIONAL, AND CALM”
Neila has been an image of consistency and has the record to match. Her sole result off the podium was a Donington Park Race 1, in which FIM WorldSBK stewards penalised the #6 for the action which left Neila in the grass. The incident ended her 22-race podium streak, which stretched back to the Championship’s inaugural season, and undeterred, she took her second win of the season in the subsequent Race 2 at Donington Park, plus silver medals in the final two races.
Looking back on her 2026 campaign, Neila said: “The words I’d use to describe my season would be ‘consistent’, ‘professional’, and ‘calm’, I see my 2026 in a positive way. I’m not sure what’s next. I want to do the same because I’m fighting for women in this sport, so I want to continue supporting this World Championship. For that, I want to try to find the best solution and the best way to arrive at the first race of the season in 2027 and continue the way I’ve been enjoying.”
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