Beatriz Neila and Ampito Crescent Yamaha on the Hunt in Hungary with Race 2 Victory

The FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship battle heated up in Round 4 at Balaton Park Circuit in Hungary last weekend, with Ampito Crescent Yamaha’s Beatriz Neila achieving her third win of the season in Race 2.

A second successive pole position on Friday afternoon demonstrated the raw pace that Neila had on the all-new World Championship track from the very start. As the weekend developed, the WorldWCR riders got to grips with the layout and delivered another two thrilling, wheel-to-wheel races with the all-female field.

Main title rival Maria Herrera took the lead at the halfway point in Race 1, with Neila set to hunt her down in the final laps until a small mistake going wide into the chicane at Turn 15 relegated #36 to third place behind Chloe Jones. Neila entered the start-finish straight on Jones’ rear wheel but was unable to recapture second place, crossing the line just 0.141s behind.

Sunday offered a chance at redemption to claw back crucial points – Herrera led the early stages of Race 2 with Neila in close pursuit until the start of Lap 6, where Neila took the lead into Turn 1 with the #15 Yamaha R7 of Jones taking advantage of the gap between the two rivals. The Ampito Crescent Yamaha rider controlled the race right to the end to take the chequered flag first.

With identical results for the top two reversed in each race, the gap remains at nine points for Neila to the championship lead with two rounds remaining. WorldWCR returns for Magny-Cours from 5-7 September before a no-doubt highly-contested season finale in Jerez on 17-19 October.

Beatriz Neila – Superpole: P1 / Race 1: P3 / Race 2: P1

“I’m so happy; it was amazing to win in Race 2. I didn’t make the best start but after a few laps, I was able to build a little gap together with Maria and Chloe. I think I did a good job in the final race, and also set some good times while lapping alone. The bike worked really well, and so did I! The championship is super close now, the same gap that we had when we came into the Balaton round, so we need to keep working. Friday was my second consecutive pole so I’m really happy with that – Race 1 on Saturday was a little difficult, I made a mistake through the last chicane which unfortunately meant I missed out on second place but that’s ok, third is still a good result for the championship. I will enjoy the Magny-Cours round as I like the track, which is a bit more like Donington. I want to have fun, do my best and hopefully be back doing top three interviews on French soil for Ampito Crescent Yamaha!”