In the inaugural season of WorldWCR, Sara Sanchez surprised the world by winning two races and finishing the season in third place. This season, however, has not gone as smoothly for Sara. We continue with our WorldWCR Special Series of riders’ interviews. Today, we give you the the story of Spanish rider Sara Sanchez.
All photos © Terra&Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR Team
Born in Barcelona in 1997, Sara’s motorcycling career began at the age of nine in the Copa Promo Velocidad RACC 50cc Road race series. With Laia Sanz as her role model, Sara progressed through regional and national championships. Her career was paused, however, when she was injured at 15. Fortunately, she was given the chance to return three years later. “I returned to racing when I turned 18, as I was finally given the opportunity to compete again. I grabbed that chance and restarted my career after stopping due to an accident until I reached 18.”
Throughout her career, Sara has shared podiums with MotoGP World Champions such as Fabio Quartararo and Jorge Martin, and has also excelled in female-only championships like the RFME Women’s Open Yamaha R3 Cup and the Women’s European Cup. When WorldWCR was announced, she signed up without hesitation. “I felt like I had to be there and take part in this Championship. It was the very first edition of a World Championship for women. At that time, I was competing against boys, but it was important for me to join the first-ever FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship – both to support the project and to compete against the best riders in the world.”
In her extraordinary 2024 season, Sara stood on the top step of the podium twice, making her the only rider to do so alongside Ana Carrasco and Maria Herrera. Her first win came in Race 2 at Estoril, the very circuit where she had been injured at 15. It has now though become one of her favorite tracks on the calendar. “One of the most special moments of my career so far was my first-ever WorldWCR win in Estoril in 2024 – truly unforgettable. I’d say Estoril is my favorite track on the calendar, because of what happened last year, and Jerez, as it has always been one of my favorite tracks.”
The track I’d love to see added to the WorldWCR calendar is Mugello, as I have so many good memories there.
In addition to her two wins, Sara secured another seven podium finishes, wrapping up the season in third place. With such a strong start, she had high hopes for the 2025 season. However, the second season has proven more difficult. In the first five rounds, Sara has managed only three podiums. Her weekend at Magny-Cours was one of the most complicated so far, where she crashed out of Race 1 and was declared unfit for Race 2 due to her injuries. “It’s been a challenging season so far. We’ve had some good races, but we haven’t been as consistent as we had hoped. Considering how we ended last year, our main goal was to fight for the Championship and for race wins every weekend. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to do that and right now we’re a bit far from the title fight. Anyway, we still keep working hard to rebuild confidence.”
With a little over a month to recover from her hand injury sustained at Magny-Cours, Sara will likely embark on her final round of the season in Jerez not fully fit. She is no stranger to racing in adverse situations though. “One of the toughest moments was when I had to race with a broken knee. It was extremely challenging both physically and mentally. Staying strong was hard, but the support and encouragement from the people around me were crucial to get through that period.”
As always, we asked Sara for her advice for girls progressing toward becoming professional riders, and for her opinion on how to better support them. Here’s what she said: “Let them do what they love and keep all options open. If you like something, go for it and try. It’s always better to try than to have regrets later. There are more opportunities than ever to compete, so if you really want to, just go for it! They can also be helped by promoting smaller groups of female riders to start training together and building confidence on the bike. This way, you could inspire more young girls to ride and grow in the sport.”
On October 18th and 19th, the second season of WorldWCR will conclude at Jerez. We wish Sara the best of luck in her recovery and in the final round. We certainly hope the 2026 season will be much better for her and the team, so we can see her fight for the title again!
Paddock Sorority 
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