Maria Herrera won Race One of the World Women’s Circuit Racing at Magny-Cours, in Spain. Riding her Klint Forward Racing Team Yamaha YZF-R7 on Pirelli control tires, Herrera won the 11-lap race by 0.130 second.
Chloe Jones was the runner-up on her GR Motosport Yamaha YZF-R7.
Beatriz Neila was third on her Ampito Crescent Yamaha YZF-R7.
American Mallory Dobbs finished 10th on her Diva Racing Yamaha YZF-R7 and American Sonya Lloyd crashed her Team Trasimeno Yamaha YZF-R7 on turn 3.
Results WWCR RACE 1
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Herrera fires first in France, outpacing Neila and holding off a late attack from Jones. Herrera continues to close her grip on the 2025 World Championship with her Race 1 win at Magny-Cours.
The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship has officially kicked off race action at the French Round’s Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Racing Team) topped the podium in the first encounter of the weekend, followed into Parc Ferme by Chloe Jones (GR Motorsport) and Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) for their fourth and ninth podiums of the season, respectively.
PODIUM STREAK CONTINUES: Herrera maintains her season-long podium streak, nine consecutive for #6
Herrera surged forward to take the holeshot from P2, and after Jones ran wide in the ‘180º’ Turn 9, the Championship leader reinstated herself in P1 with eight laps to go. Four riders isolated themselves at the front as they doggedly pursued Herrera, comprised of Beatriz Nelia (Ampito Crescent Yamaha), Chloe Jones (GR Motorsport) and home hero Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94-YAMAHA). As the laps poled up, Boudesseul’s pace fell off, and into the final laps, Herrera and Chloe Jones (GR Motorsport) battled for P1 as the Englishwoman fought for her first WorldWCR race win. Despite a final sector surge from Jones, Herrera’s pace held to claim P1, her fifth win of the season. Jones’s P2 makes it now three second-place finishes in a row as the young rider continues to grow. Neila didn’t quite have the race pace to keep up with her title rival and Jones in front of her, as she settled for P3’s 16 points.
THREE P4’S IN A ROW FOR PONZIANI: Climbed back up the order from P8 start position
Riding most of the race behind the lead group, Roberta Ponziani (Klint Forward Racing Team) and rookie Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) fought for fourth place as the young Spaniard continued her strong form in Race 1 after a career-best P5 qualification in Friday’s Tissot Superpole session. The pair caught up to Boudesseul late in the race, overtaking the French rider to finish P4 with a margin of 0.328s behind her. While she looked poised for her first WorldWCR podium, Boudesseul will have to settle with P5 as her pace declined as the race continued. Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) set a new career-high result of P6, a positive sign for the young Spaniard as she will look for a further step to keep up with riders like Ponziani in Race 2.
ALLEZ ALLEZ ALLEZ: Pedemonte and Vieillard continue to shine at home
Wildcard rider Justine Pedemonte (MDS) landed P7 in Race 1 of her home round. She battled with Aussie Tayla Relph (Full Throttle Racing), who finished behind her in P8 as they floated more than four seconds above the riders behind them. Along with Boudesseul and Pedemonte, Line Vieillard (FT Racing Academy) represented their home country well as she finished P9, placing three out of the field’s four French riders within the top 10. In P10, American rider Mallory Dobbs (Diva Racing) earned her best finish of the season, placing in the top ten for the first time since her pair of P9s at 2024’s season finale at Jerez.
LLOYD AND BONDI COME TO GRIEF: The pair made contact and saw gravel before being taken to the medical centre
Sonya Lloyd (Team Trasimeno) and Emily Bondi (ZELOS Trasimeno) crashed in Turn 3 of their second lap; both riders were brought to the medical centre for further analysis. Sara Sanchez (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) missed the top five positions for the first time this season as she crashed out on Turn 9.
The top six from the WorldWCR Race 1: Full results here!
1. Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Racing Team)
2. Chloe Jones (GR Motosport) +0.130s
3. Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) +2.868s
4. Roberta Ponziani (Klint Forward Racing Team) +6.937s
5. Lucie Boudesseul (GMT94-YAMAHA) +7.265s
6. Natalia Rivera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team) +14.251s
Fastest lap: Chloe Jones – 1’51.622s
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