24 year-old XU Yiwen (许一雯) hails from Anhui Province, and is currently riding for Sihai Racing in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Starting her training in 2022, she has now succeeded in many racing events in China. Her mission doesn’t stop at race wins. To kick off our Chinese New Year special series of year of the snake, we give you the story of XU Yiwen.
© All photos provided by XU Yiwen
Before knowing she could go elbow down on her bike, XU Yiwen had already been a leisure rider, riding her bike commuting in the city of Chengdu. Then in 2022, through the biggest bike show in China – China International Motorcycle Trade Exhibition (CIMAMotor), she discovered another exciting side to motorcycling. “The first time I heard about ‘elbow down’ or ‘lean angle’ was at an interactive session at CIMAMotor 2022. I thought it was pretty cool to go elbow down in the corner. I learned how to do it on my Duke 390. I wasn’t really leaning like a professional rider of course, but it was a start of something.”
After she had first tasted some basic skills in motorcycle racing, Yiwen started to take racing classes to get more proper training in the craft, first in Chengdu, then full-time in Erdos, Inner Mongolia. “My mentors who’ve led me into the world of racing are two KOLs on TikTok. First I trained with Xiaoyan. She used to be a rider herself and she teaches female riders for free. I really loved all the basic training and wanted to go racing. However, after training with her for a little while in Chengdu, it was winter time already and the weather didn’t really allow further training. So I started to save money for more serious training. In May 2023, I got enough money, I bought a new bike, and I moved to Erdos to train with ZHU Kai (nicknamed Shuke on social media) who works with Xiaoyan and has a pit box at a proper circuit.”
In July 2023, with two months of training, Yiwen participated in her first race. It wasn’t the most encouraging start of a career, and she ran out of money afterward, but nothing could stop Yiwen from carrying on. “I was third from the last in my first race, a mixed race with the boys. I was a bit frustrated after this. I’d be happier if I was running in the middle pack, but being among the last few made me doubt myself. I wanted to be better, but I didn’t have money to continue training in Erdos. So I went back to Chengdu, made more money, and went to a race in Guiyang with a very high prize. I entered the women’s category and really excelled in the race. It was my first podium finish. I kind of made my name in this race. A lot of people heard about me after this.”
Because of her success in Guiyang, Yiwen was also able to attract sponsors, including the team she currently races for – Sihai Racing. With enough backing, she now becomes a professional rider. “My team found out about me through the race in Guiyang. Afterward, they were following my races. I had a lot of interactions with them after my races. They are really nice people, and they invited me to work and race for the team. I started first in the winter of 2023 at their dealership in Hubei – DC MOTOR. I would help with live streaming to sell parts and give riding classes to their club members. In March 2024, I moved to Xi’an to train and race with Sihai Racing, and work on the operation side of the team on a daily basis. I work on almost everything except for building and repairing the bikes.”
In her experience of a year and a half so far, like all motorcycle riders, Yiwen has suffered some scary crashes and injuries, sometimes even in front of her family. “After my very successful outing in Guiyang, I took a short break and then went to race in Shanghai. However, in the 300cc race, I high-sided. My mom was watching. I was lying in the gravel and I saw my mom being very anxious, I jumped up to show her there was nothing wrong with me. In July 2024 in Erdos, I suffered a serious injury. I broke my ribs after crashing in the free practice. I didn’t know at the time and finished race 1 with a great result. But then before race 2, I felt extreme and acute pain in my chest and had trouble breathing. More experienced riders tried to convince me to drop out of the race because they could tell that I had broken my ribs. But I didn’t want to give up and insisted on racing. I led the race from the start, there was no way I’d throw away a good start like that. But my physical condition couldn’t sustain me for the whole race defending my position. I finished the race in third. I was able to get on the podium in both race 1 and race 2 with a serious injury.”
My mom is really worried about me. She scolded me for doing dangerous things. But when I got podiums, she would still proudly show off on social media to her friends. I know she’s very proud of me. My racing number 73 is a combination of my birthday and my mom’s birthday.
Through pain and glory, with support from her team, Yiwen gradually matures as a rider. She’s no longer racing just with a hot head. She strives to be more consistent and aims to one day shine on a bigger stage. “At the beginning, I was not afraid of anything. I would be really aggressive in bar-to-bar fighting. Now I learned that injuries on your body could be more costly than damages to the bikes. I want to be more consistent in the races. I have more experience now, and I would also learn from videos of foreign riders. It used to take me many laps to get into the mindset of racing. Now I can be really focused from the get-go. I can also be calm and patient in a long-lasting fight. In the future, I want to have opportunities to train and race in Southeast Asia. Their racing scene is more developed than China, and the cost of living is lower than that of going to train in Europe. I want to see how they train and compete with a more competitive field.”
Having matured as a rider, at 24 years of age, Yiwen has a clear awareness and ambition of where she could be as a rider in the future. “Now I’ve turned my hobby into my profession, there is also pressure that comes with it. My racing idol is Dani Pedrosa, I love watching his old races and I love his racing stories. He never claimed a premier class title, but he continued fighting on. I didn’t start racing because I had a racing dream as a child. I feel more like a ‘concerned citizen’ of the motorcycling world who wants to contribute. I’m not a young rider anymore. I may not be racing for another five or ten years and collecting a ton of trophies. I want to be able to help other women who want to race. I’ll use my time racing to gather enough influence and bargaining power to build something for women in motorcycling. It could be a dedicated racing series or a training program.”
Right now Yiwen is taking the winter break in her hometown in Anhui. When it’s warm again, she will start her training on track for the 2025 season. This season, Yiwen will be racing in CRRC 300cc class as well as races in Erdos. We wish her all the best in the 2025 season and beyond!
Paddock Sorority 
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