The FIM and Dorna WSBK Organization (DWO) are launching the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR) this year. The inaugural season of the championship will kick off in Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and comprise six rounds (two races at each round) integrated within the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. A provisional permanent entry list with 24 riders has been announced. We caught up with some of the riders on the entry list, today we give you the second installment in this series, the story of Italian rider Roberta Ponziani, who’s also the only Italian rider on the entry list.
Photos © Roberta Ponziani
From the outside, we may think that motorsport has been a popular sport in Italy forever, and Valentino Rossi has been a household name in Italy since the late 1990s. But Roberta hadn’t really seen any MotoGP races (or 500cc races) until she started riding herself. “Motorcycling wasn’t as popular as it seems in Italy. No one in my family has a motorcycle. We have never seen any motorcycle races on TV. When I was 9 years old, we passed by a track with minibikes. I asked my father if I could try. It was my first experience with a bike. I started from there, and I realized I was pretty good. I started racing and I had good results, so I continued.”
Since she started racing, Valentino Rossi became a racing idol for Roberta, as he has been for many other Italian kids racing bikes. Roberta also took her birth year 1996, and used 96 as her racing number. Like Roberta said, she had good results, in 2014, she became the Italian Minimoto Champion in the Open A category. “I won the Italian Champion in minibike. I was racing with the guys and the only girl on the grid. It was a big satisfaction at the time for me.”
In 2020, Roberta started racing in the Women’s European Cup. In the four seasons, Roberta, Beatriz Neila, and Sara Sanchez put on great rivalries for the world to see. Roberta came home with the third place in the championship four times. 2023 was especially a challenging year. “After winning in Misano, I crashed twice in Valencia. Then I crashed again in the Czech Republic, three crashes in three days. I lost the European Championship just like that. I crash in the first lap every time, I don’t even know how. It was like I didn’t know how to ride anymore. It was a very dark moment. But of course, I continued racing, and I won again. At the end of the year, I was better.”
It was challenging in the Women’s European Cup. In CIV (Campionato Italiano Velocità) in 2023, Roberta was doing much better. “I won the first female Italian championship (CIV Femminile). It was important.”
This year, many of the riders competing in the Women’s European Cup are moving to WorldWCR. The old rivalries continue, and new challenges also come. “I know nine or ten girls from the Women’s European Cup. I know the WSSP300 World Champion Ana Carrasco is really fast. I also know Beatriz Neila and Sara Sanchez are fast. I don’t know some of the other girls on the grid. I don’t know how it can be yet, maybe there could be surprises from the other riders. After the test, we will see.”
Even though there are a lot of unknowns in the championship, one thing is currently a potential advantage for Roberta: the Emilia-Romagna round and the Acerbis Italian Round. “I’m lucky because there are two rounds in Italy. I had a little bit of an advantage. I won the first two races of the Women’s European Cup at Misano last year. I know I can be fast there. I hope I can be fast in the WorldWCR as well. Beatriz Neila is fast, but I defeated her there. I can do it again.”
There are of course also other circuits that Roberta does not know that well. At the same time, she hasn’t raced bikes as big as the R7. “I know I can be in the top 3 in the championship. But it will also be difficult. I don’t know the other tracks. I’ve been watching onboard videos of Portimao and Donington Park. But there are no onboard videos for Balaton Park Circuit, I think they only race cars there. I’m also playing the MotoGP and WSBK games. Most of the tracks will be new for everybody anyway. Some of the girls may know Portimao and Donington Park better. I’ve tried the R7 once. I’ll have to wait for another test in March to get more experience. The championship does not start until June, so we have time for testing. I also want to have a wild-card entrance in the CIV R7 Cup, if I can come up with the budget.”
Besides getting to know the bike and the tracks, Roberta also continues her regular physical training as well as technical training on the bikes. “I train five or six times a week. I go running three times, and go to the gym twice. I also go to the circuit twice a week. We have a small circuit here in our town, and Misano is about 2-hour’s drive from where I live.”
Outside of her training and racing, Roberta’s family runs a bakery, and she works as a baker there in charge of the desserts. “I go to the bakery in the morning. I make the cakes and biscuits. Then in the afternoon I train or do other motorsport-related things.”
Before her racing career got more serious, Roberta also studied at the university for three years. One of the subjects she studied was Chinese. “I just want to know the language. I think it’s important to know because there are not that many people in Italy who can speak it. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish my studies at the university because of motorcycling and my work. I tried, but I just didn’t have enough time to study. I have to choose between my motorcycling career and my studies.”
Hopefully Roberta can give a great performance at WorldWCR, we wish her an excellent season!
The 2024 WorldWCR Calendar
1. Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round, MWC “Marco Simoncelli” – 14-16 June
2. Prosecco DOC UK Round, Donington Park – 12-14 July
3. Pirelli Portuguese Round, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – 9-11 August
4. Hungarian Round, Balaton Park Circuit* – 23-25 August
5. Acerbis Italian Round, Cremona Circuit* – 20-22 September
6. Prometeon Spanish Round, Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto – 18-20 October
* Subject to homologation
In our next installment of this series, we give you the story of American rider Mallory Dobbs
Paddock Sorority 
Leave a comment