WorldSBK support class title win reversed after rider's premature celebration

Maria Herrera thought she won the 2026 FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship at Donington last weekend, but was penalised for a collision during her celebrations.

The all-female FIM championship, which forms part of the World Superbike support bill, saw a dramatic Race 2 on Sunday at Donington Park.

A victory for former Moto3 rider Maria Herrera - who is the reigning champion - would secure her the 2026 title, with the Spaniard engaged in a thrilling battle for the lead with Beatriz Neila and Paola Ramos.

Herrera led onto the final lap ahead of Ramos and Neila, but ran wide coming out of the Old Hairpin, which allowed Ramos to draw alongside into Starkey’s.

The pair made slight contact on the exit of Starkey’s, with Ramos going down.

Herrera fended off Neila to the chequered flag, narrowly scoring victory to take her championship lead to an unassailable 54 points.

She celebrated the title on the cooldown lap, donning a championship winners’ t-shirt and riding back to pitlane with a gold No.1 plate on the front of her bike.

But the FIM stewards deemed that she was at fault for the Ramos crash following an investigation and awarded her a six-second time penalty - or the equivalent of two long laps.

When the verdict came, Herrera was unaware, and continued celebrating here title victory until she got back to pitlane and was informed of the penalty.

This boosted Neila to the race win, with Herrara second, bringing the championship gap between them back down to 44 to force a final-round showdown at Jerez.

“I didn’t know, because I was in front, I didn’t see her,” Herrara said of the crash in parc ferme.

“I was pushing because I knew Bea was behind me also.

“So, I did the line. With the wind it’s very difficult to do the line, and I closed all the doors.

“I finished first, but at the end, the surprise is that I finished second. The championship will be open for Jerez, but I’m in front.”

It was a controversial weekend in all for Herrera, who was handed a double long lap penalty in Race 1 for a collision with title rival Neila at the Schwantz corner.

Neila was captured on the world feed camera flashing the middle finger to Herrera behind the barrier after the crash.

Despite this, Herrera went on to take victory in the opening WorldWCR race of the Donington weekend.