Shock for Beatriz Neila: her World Championship team is pulling out due to a new Liberty deal

Last year, Beatriz Neila missed out on the World Championship title by just five points to Maria Herrera; this season, following the incidents in England, the situation is much clearer: Herrera has a 44-point lead ahead of this coming weekend’s races in Jerez, and there are only 50 points left to be won. Under normal circumstances, Herrera will be crowned champion for the second time in the third year of the Women’s World Championship.

After three years with Yamaha’s R7 twins, the women will be given a new bike from 2027: promoter Liberty (formerly Dorna) has signed a contract with the Chinese brand CF Moto, and the 675SR-R three-cylinder machine will be used in future.

This has far-reaching consequences for runner-up Beatriz Neila and Chloe Jones, as they will both have to look for a new team after this season. “Our team is independent and run by Crescent, but we are also the official Yamaha works team in the World Superbike Championship; we represent the manufacturer Yamaha,” explained team boss Paul Denning during a meeting with SPEEDWEEK.com in Jerez. “This makes it impossible for us to remain part of the championship if they are riding a competitor’s bikes. We can no longer operate as a team, but we may be able to help them move forward by offering personal support – we’ve had a wonderful journey with Beatriz as a person and a rider.”

Crescent has made it easier for Neila to find sponsors

Denning does not expect participation in the Women’s World Championship to be free in future; even with new partner CF Moto, every rider will need a certain budget to finance the season. “Many women in the WCR have put together small teams that work well. I can’t see why that shouldn’t work. What certainly helped Beatriz was our involvement as a World Superbike team, in terms of the championship’s status and also the communication platforms. Beatriz took part in events alongside Johnny Rea, Andrea Locatelli and Xavi Vierge; that boosted the image of the women and ensured that sponsors such as Monster and Ampito supported them. That won’t be quite so easy with a new brand.”

Crescent-Teamchef Paul Denning

Foto: gold & goose