Ana Carrasco and María Herrera with two fans / Aragón 2013
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Yes, this is gonna be a long post :3
These pictures are from a pre-race press conference in Alcañiz, held on Thursday, September 26 2013, for the Aragón Grand Prix.
Team Calvo KTM Moto3 rider Ana Carrasco (a fresh Moto3 rookie, and teammates with title-contender Maverick Viñales) was joined that weekend by Junior Team Estrella Galicia's María Herrera, who would be competing as a wildcard. Herrera had been third in the Spanish Championship and had her second victory of the season the prior weekend. It was the first time two women had competed in the lightweight class since the Spanish GP in 1994, when Daniela Tognoli and Tomoko Igata took part in a 125cc race in Spain.
^ Our two girls, Ana and María!
^ Here's a pic of Daniela (left) and Tomoko (right) on their bikes, for those curious
María and Ana were briefly interviewed by the press, with questions focusing on competing in the Moto3 class, how they feel about achieving such a great sporting stride as talented young women, and the obstacles facing women who enter the sport. Then, the premier-class riders at the table (Rossi, Márquez, Espargaró, Pedrosa and Lorenzo) were asked to weigh in with their thoughts. I've compiled the interesting quotes here, based on articles published at the time. However, I couldn't find the full transcript of the conference, so if anyone has that, or even the full video(!!), please send it my way <3
"Winning in the CEV right before coming to the World Championship is the best thing, and this weekend I'm using it to learn. I wanted to arrive at the World Championship having learned a lot in the CEV, and this year I'm at the front, so we'll see when I finally make it to the World Championship... I hope to be there someday. Well, we have some difficulties getting there, because if you're not fast, they don't trust you, but I have a good team that does." — María Herrera
The question that made them both laugh the most — and on which they agreed — was about how boys react when they're beaten.
"The truth is, it bothers them a little... It bothers them quite a lot. You can see it on their faces on the podium that they don't like it." — María Herrera, her words punctuated with laughter
^ Pic of María on the podium's top step during the CEV championship of May that same year, posing with a cheque for one year of free fuel ...She is accompanied by some less-than-pleased colleagues (...aka sore losers)
And then, Ana added:
"Yes, it bothers them even more because they think a woman is inferior, and it bothers them that someone they consider inferior to them beats them." — Ana Carrasco
Ana joked when asked if the fact that two girls are racing will soon cease to be news, and become more commonplace:
"I hope so. What we're doing here is opening a door so that in the future there will be more women in the World Championships. Anyway, [now] the most important thing is a relaxing cup with café con leche..."
^ Once again, thank you Mirco Lazzari, for all your hard work <3
MotoGP stars including Valentino Rossi, Marc Márquez, Aleix Espargaró, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo also sat at the press con table surrounding the girls. They welcomed the two competing Spanish riders and praised their presence on the Moto3 grid for the upcoming weekend in Aragón.
After the questions, the group of riders posed for the cameras. One of the Spanish sports blogs described it in a very cute way: 'Rookie Carrasco timidly made her way sideways to stand next to her idol Valentino Rossi, while María Herrera exchanged smiles with her fellow Repsol sponsor, Marc Márquez'.
And, so of course, we get to famed image numero uno:
According to one article, Ana didn't mind sharing the conversation she and María had with Marc after they'd finished posing with him. Márquez was the rookie and MotoGP title leader at the time, and they seemed to have a comfortable level of banter as María knew his brother Álex pretty well (...for context, Álex was also an Estrella Galicia rider and teammates with Álex Rins, who was also apparently quite close with María).
"I felt so many things being with these riders. I'd been trying all year to get Pablo Nieto to introduce me to Rossi, and [now,] I did it myself. Meeting the best in the world is important to me, and I hope to be in their shoes someday. I'm left with what Marc Márquez told us. If I may say? He said he blushes when he's with two girls..." — Ana Carrasco
^ Marc cheesing it for the camera after exhibiting insane levels of greed, hehe...
"This is good news, I was at home last Sunday watching the Spanish Championship race, and I saw María win... Already, she had won a race, but you never know if it was just a one-time. But then she won again [last weekend] at Navarra. This will be important for motorcycle racing and MotoGP, because it's like a man's world, but a girl can be fast too." — Marc Márquez
Meanwhile, Rossi believes the rivalry between Carrasco and Herrera will spur them both to achieve better results, as is often the case with male riders:
"I think it is good for our sport, because it is mainly a men's sport, but also in the past, four or five girls were very, very fast. It is especially interesting to understand and follow María after she won two races in the Spanish Championship, where the level is good." "And for sure, it is also a great motivation for Ana to try to arrive in front of María this weekend! But it will be hard for the girls, because all the boys don't want to arrive behind them, so they will have extra motivation also! But they are both fast, so they can have a good weekend." — Valentino Rossi
^ Rossi ofc still being rivalry-pilled here. Melancholic sigh...
"I think it is a really good thing for the sport to have two girls. It is not normal, and maybe next year it can happen [full-time]. My mechanic, Tuanito, worked with Ana and tells me she's really brave, and also, in the Spanish Championship [last year] she did a really good season. Now in the world championship, it is more difficult, so she needs a little bit more time. And María — she has won two CEV races. Everybody says she is really strong. Winning races in the Spanish Championship is very difficult. So both have a really promising career ahead of them." — Jorge Lorenzo
^ Believe me, this was the clearest resolution I could find... also, Ana!!
"[They are both] very brave in such a male-dominated sport; they compete against men and demonstrate their skills. I'm curious to see them on Sunday." — Dani Pedrosa
"It's good because it's not just two girls racing, but because they are fast. María has won races in the Spanish Championship this year, and Ana has finished just five or six seconds from the points in recent grand prix races. They will both be really motivated to beat the other, and so we will see if they can arrive in the points on Sunday." — Aleix Espargaró
"I'm happy to see girls racing motorcycles. The only girl racer I remember was a German in 250GP, Katja Poensgen [2001, 2003], who scored points — maybe this is the only thing where Germany is better than Spain in racing at this moment!" — Stefan Bradl
+ more under the cut :3
