ON THE LAUNCH of the Kawasaki Ninja 125 and Z125 I was fortunate enough to have a five-minute interview with the first female to win a Grand Prix motorcycle world championship, none other than Ana Carrasco.
This interview took place before I ‘followed’ Ana on track. Her lines were effortless and sweeping, I can see how she earnt her crown. Mine on the other hand… not so much. But Ana still gave me a thumbs up and a big smile after the lap.
Here’s what she had to say…
Harry: Hi Ana, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. So first off, when did you start riding?
Ana: I started when I was 3 years old. My father is a mechanic so my family go all around the world, and he built me a bike when I was 3 years old.
H: When did you start racing?
Ana: When I was 4 years old I did my first race, and after this, I have been racing all my life.
H: Wow that’s impressive, and what does racing mean to you?
Ana: It’s my life. I wouldn’t understand my life without racing because I grow up with it, so I really don’t know how to live without it.
H: Besides your parents was there any other inspiration that made you want to race?
Ana: At the beginning, it was because it made me happy, but this all changed when I was 14 years old because they gave me the opportunity to go to the Spanish Championships. So this was more professional and I started to think more about going to the world championships and being a professional. All I thought here was to go far.
H: If you didn’t have racing what do you think you would be doing?
Ana: *Long pause* Hmm I don’t know maybe another sport or something… I don’t know?
H: OK, do you have any other hobbies or anything?
Ana: I like other sport, so when I have free time I play football, badminton, tennis and everything. But only sometimes.
H: So, now that you are World Supersport 300 champion what next?
Ana: I will try to repeat for sure. I think it’s important to continue trying, to be always on at the top and it’s important to try to repeat this season. That’s what I want to do it’s to try and be champion again. Then in a few years, I would like the ride the Superbike class. I think within 4-5 years I will be ready to make it to the World Superbike class.
H: What barriers did you experience to racing? Where there any particular times that you remember thinking ‘how am I going to get through this?’
Ana: It’s difficult to choose as I have a lot of good moments and a lot of bad moments so… This career is difficult you have a lot of ups and downs and it’s difficult to continue working and waiting for another good day. But now I think I’m living the best moment in my career, so this is really good for me and makes me very happy.
H: And those tough times how do you get past them? How do you take those times and build upon them?
Ana: It depends on the day. Sometimes I am nervous sometimes I am relaxed, when I have a difficult moment or an important race, I really try to stay close to the team and listen to the people who tutor me. Also, I try to do what they tell me because it’s important to be calm always, when you are nervous you can make some mistakes and I try to be calm always but sometimes *chuckles* you can make mistakes also.
H: What would be your best advice for anyone who wanted to get into racing?
Ana: Just enjoy. The most important thing is to enjoy what you are doing and go for it. For sure it is difficult to arrive on-top, but if you enjoy it then it’s way more easy to make it. so just enjoy.
H: Brilliant! Thank you for your time Ana.
