Ana Carrasco: Racing Against Men

Ana Carrasco, 16 year old FIM MotoGP racer in the Moto 3 field, talks about how she feels being a “woman in a man’s world”. She finished 8th at Valencia last week and finished her first season in a decent spot.

From KTM’s blog-

She notched six top twenty finishes until arriving at Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix in October where 15th position meant she was the first female to score GP points in twelve years and the first since 1995 in the small cylinder category.

When asked if she feels like her gender affects her progress-

I do feel a little bit more pressure, because everyone is looking out for my results and what I achieve. If a boy comes in and finishes last or wherever, then it’s normal and nobody really pays attention and that’s that. If a girl does it then everyone is looking at them. It’s a little more difficult, and you have to completely ignore what some people say, especially the journalists, because otherwise you’d never go quickly!

It’s easy for ladies to feel like the center of attention in regards to performance when it comes to throwin’ down with the boys. Many people would think, well, no one would care as much about a man who didn’t finish top 10, top 5, or whatever… it’s all because she’s a lady. Well, hell yes it is. Because she’s got “balls as big as the boys” and she doesn’t even have any balls at all- plus she’s a teenager.

I can’t wait to see where her career takes her in 2014 and beyond. Her insight?

It’s been a really positive year for me and I’ve been able to learn lots, but more than anything I’ve been picking up valuable experience that will only help me in the future.

For next year I’m still not sure where I will be racing, but once I know what team and bike I am on then I will have a better idea of where I can reach.

Read the whole interview with Ana on KTM’s blog »

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