Beatriz Neila and Ampito Crescent Yamaha Celebrate Maiden WorldWCR Victory in Assen

Beatriz Neila stormed to her first World Championship race victory for Ampito Crescent Yamaha at the TT Circuit Assen on Sunday. She leaves the Netherlands leading the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship standings, with her best weekend result in the series including second place in Race 1 and the weekend’s Fastest Lap Award with the win in Race 2.

Neila had only completed five laps of the Dutch circuit back in 2019 while in WorldSSP300, so Free Practice was about getting as much experience at the “Cathedral of Speed” as possible – to “work, work, work!” That hard work paid off in Superpole with a front-row, second-place qualifying just 0.2s from Maria Herrera on pole and a clear step in front of the rest of the field.

From there, Neila went from strength-to-strength on the #36 Ampito Crescent Yamaha R7 engaging in a race-long battle with Herrera that produced one of Assen’s historic last-lap tussles in Race 1. The pair fought in the tricky Geert Timmer chicane, and while Neila cross the line first, a small mistake crossing the green track limits on the inside of the last corner saw her relegated to second place after the fact.

On the final day of competition, the law student from Madrid came back swinging – executing a near flawless plan, as she matched Herrera’s pace and let her rival lead for much of the race distance before executing her overtake for the lead before the final chicane to deliver an emphatic and popular win.

Cremona plays host to the exclusive women’s class early next month, from 2-4 May in Italy, for the second of the highly-competitive six-round championship run alongside the FIM Superbike World Championship.

Beatriz Neila – SP: P2 / Race 1: P2 / Race 2: P1

“My first WorldWCR victory feels amazing and means a lot to me as I’ve been working really hard all winter. Sunday’s race was a bit harder as the wind was so strong, and it was particularly tough out front. I pushed every lap and did my best. I was thinking about the strategy for the last lap all race long, and finally I was able to get it right, staying on track and avoiding the mistake I made in Race 1. The weekend was incredible, we worked a lot and worked well during every session – the team was amazing, I want to thank everybody for their support including Ampito and Crescent Yamaha. We are going to work hard in these next two weeks to arrive in Cremona in the same position to be able to fight for the podium there and work towards fighting for the title.”