The 27-year-old racer from Warrnambool Victoria, won’t find it an easy challenge, as she steps up from a 300cc motorcycle that she normally rides, to a 700cc Yamaha YZF-R7.
“I haven’t ridden an R7 before, just because there is not really a class here where we can race an R7, so for me it was more beneficial to stay on the 300. I have had a few rides on a 600 and a BMW s1000r before, and to be honest, I go alright on these bikes and don’t find the size or weight difference much of a challenge,” she explained.
Relph who operates coaching company South West Track Days with partner and fellow racer Ted Collins, has been the only female racer on the grid. She became the first female to win a race and an overall round of ASBK.
She has competed internationally, initially at 15, for the Red Bull Rookies Selection event and then later in New Zealand and India.
“This is a historic moment for so many females, and I hope too, a historic moment for the men out there that still see women in motorsport as a stigmatised thing, to rethink their views and opinions to shift that thought into ‘hey, women racing competitively is actually a normal thing’”, she added and her gofundme page has already raised substantial funding.
The Championship will be over six rounds after one pre-season test. Round 1 will be at the Misano World Circuit on June 14-16 before Donington (July 12-14), Autodromo Internacional do Algarve (August 9-11), Balaton Park Circuit (August 23-25), Cremona Circuit (September 20-22) and Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto on October 11-13.
This ground-breaking addition to world of motorcycling will be broadcast on Fox Sports and SBS, along with the international live-stream package. Each outing will comprise two races. Twenty-two of the fastest women will be permanent entries with two wild cards from the National Federation.
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