Maria Herrera (Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR) has done it again, securing back-to-back FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship titles after an incredible 2026 campaign. Piloting the #6 machine, she successfully defended her crown against fierce competition from rivals including Beatriz Neila (Ampito Crescent Yamaha) and Paola Ramos (Klint Racing Team) across a wild season.
Now, here is the thing: changing colors did not slow her down one bit. Herrera made a bold switch for 2026, swapping her title-winning Klint Racing Team squad for the Terra & Vita GRT Yamaha WorldWCR outfit, while her previous team snapped up Ramos after her stunning wildcard appearance at Jerez. That move made zero difference to her title aspirations, as she immediately opened the season at Portimao with a victory and kept that winning pattern rolling all year long.
The story of 2026 followed a familiar rhythm to last year, with Herrera taking on multiple top riders and almost always coming out on top. While last year featured Neila and Chloe Jones (Monster Energy Crescent Yamaha), this season brought the fresh challenge of Ramos alongside perennial threat Neila, while Muklada Sarapuech (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by EEST NJT Racing) and Roberta Ponziani (Klint Racing Team) also lurked close by.
This championship has always lived for last-lap fights, and 2026 delivered them in spades. The opening round at Portimao kicked off with an epic Herrera-Neila-Ramos scrap, while Assen echoed 2025 as Neila and Herrera went head-to-head once again. Misano brought two stunning scraps, with Race 1 going down to the wire between Herrera and Neila before Herrera claimed a crucial double in Italy. Mostly, the season boiled down to Herrera versus Neila, with the #6 making sure she took the chequered flag ahead of the #36 more often than not.
Drama struck hard at Donington Park, featuring a crucial opening lap fight in Race 1 where the two protagonists came to blows at Turns 6 and 7, leaving Neila out of the race. Neila thought she had secured the title in Race 2 at Donington, but a post-race penalty for a collision with Ramos pushed the championship fight down to Jerez for the third consecutive year. Even so, Herrera held a 44-point lead heading into Jerez, and she duly converted it into her second title.
Adding this second World Championship to her resume cements Herrera as a true trailblazer in motorcycle racing. From her epic scrap with 2021 MotoGP Champion Fabio Quartararo in the FIM CEV Repsol back in 2014, to her regular points-scoring exploits across various World Championships and World Cups, she continues to write history. After narrowly missing out on the inaugural title back in 2024, she now stands alone as the first double WorldWCR Champion.
