Donington, Race 2: Beatriz Neila wins – Herrera celebrated too soon

In Race 1 of the Women’s World Championship at Donington on Saturday, championship leader Maria Herrera was in a class of her own. The Spaniard won by a margin of almost four seconds ahead of her compatriot Paola Ramos.

Herrera had to serve a double long lap during the race after colliding with her World Championship rival Beatriz Neila just moments after the start on the first lap. Neila crashed, whilst Herrera was able to continue. Neila was beside herself and could barely be calmed down at the side of the track. She also gave her rival the middle finger.

With her victory in Race 1, Maria Herrera has also effectively sealed the World Championship title. With three races remaining, she now holds a 49-point lead over Beatriz Neila. This means Herrera can clinch the title as early as Sunday at Donington if she scores one point more than Neila.

Herrera had set the fastest lap in Saturday’s race, which is why she also started from pole position in Race 2. As a reminder: the starting grid for Race 2 is based on the fastest lap time from Race 1 for the top nine riders. From 10th place onwards, the order is determined by the Superpole results.

Alongside Herrera on the front row for Race 2 were Paolo Ramos and Muklada Sarapuech. The second row consisted of Chloe Jones, Astrid Madrigal and Sara Sanchez. Roberta Ponziani, Yvonne Cerpa and Francisca Ruiz started from the third row. Beatriz Neila had to start from 10th position due to her crash on Saturday. In Race 1, she had started from second place.

The twelve-lap race got underway at 1 pm. Herrera got off to the best start. Neila got stuck in her position. After a few corners, Ramos managed to squeeze past Herrera, but the World Championship leader fought back shortly afterwards and retook the lead. Neila had, in the meantime, worked her way up to seventh place.

On lap 2, Ramos overtook Herrera once more. Sarapuech was lurking in third place. Herrera fought back again and was back in first place. Neila was already sixth.

At the start of lap 3, the top two had built up a lead of one second. Ponziani was charging up from behind, having overtaken Sarapuech. Neila was already fourth.

At the start of lap 4, Herrera already had a lead of just under a second. Neila had previously set the fastest lap of the race. She did everything she could to keep her Mini World Championship hopes alive.

In lap 5, Herrera’s lead stood at 0.9 seconds. Neila overtook Ponziani and moved into third place. Shortly afterwards, she also overtook Ramos – but Ponziani and Ramos fought back and left Neila behind them once more.

On the sixth lap, Neila overtook Ponziani again and set her sights on Ramos. Herrera had a lead of over a second at the front.

The order at the halfway point of the race: Herrera, Ramos, Neila, Ponziani and Sarapuech.

Neila couldn’t find a way past Ramos, who was defending second place fiercely. The gap to Herrera remained constant.

With four laps to go, the situation remained unchanged. Herrera led by just under a second, whilst behind her Ramos and Neila battled it out for second place. The rest of the field was already 2.5 seconds behind the pair. Herrera set the fastest lap of the race.

With three laps to go, Ramos was closing in. Neila was struggling to keep up with her. Herrera’s lead had shrunk to half a second. Ramos set a new lap record!

With two laps to go, Ramos overtook Herrera, with Neila close behind. But Herrera fought back and retook the lead.

On the final lap, the top three were bunched closely together. Just before that, Emily Bondi crashed in Turn 11.

Then there was a collision between Herrera and Ramos – the World Championship leader went wide, Ramos crashed and Herrera carried on. Then came the showdown: Herrera and Neila battled it out for victory. Herrera crossed the finish line a tenth of a second ahead of Neila – and was crowned 2026 World Champion!

However, the incident between Herrera and Ramos on the final lap was investigated by the stewards. In the meantime, Herrera had slipped on the world champion’s jersey. But she celebrated too soon! Herrera was handed a six-second penalty, and Beatriz Neila was declared the winner. The title decision was therefore postponed until the event in Jerez in October.