A long road to the elite level
Sara Sanchez is a highly talented rider who was born in Barcelona and now resides close to the Pyrenees mountains, where she lives what she describes as a âpretty normal lifeâ. Her performances on track are far from average though and sheâs been showing her talent for many years in regional and national championships in Spain and Italy, before joining the WorldWCR grid, for the historic first season for the new series. Having first started to compete 17 years ago, Sanchez has worked diligently to make it onto the world stage.
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It all started with motocross
Sanchez first got her own motorcycle when she was given a 50cc Honda motocross bike as a present at seven years-old, a bike which she remembers riding for the first time at a track close to the house of her grandfather on the outskirts of Barcelona. Just over two years later she began to compete in road racing in the Copa Promo Velocidad RACC 50cc, where she would race for the next three years, before graduating to regional and national junior championships riding 70cc, 80cc and 125cc machinery. In 2016 she won the RFME Womenâs Open Yamaha 3R Cup and soon began to compete beyond Spain, finishing runner-up in the Womenâs European Cup in 2021 and 2022, before racing in Italy in the national SSP300 championship in 2023.
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A father leading the way to motorcycle glory
Asked about the main influence in her pursuit of a career on two wheels Sanchez readily admits there has been one central character supporting her along the way. âWhen it comes to motorcycles the main figure I look to has always been my father,â she states. âHe was the one who introduced me to this world, not just because heâs a motorcyclist, just because he loves bikes and he got me involved. He wasnât a professional rider, heâs just into motorcycles, sometimes he went to circuits, he got me into the scene, heâs a mechanic and bikes are his thing.â
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From a family approach to serious competition
Describing the continued presence of her family as she developed her racing skills, she adds, âI was a really daring child so I never said no to the challenges of riding. I never had a team in the junior categories, the team was just my father, my auntie and me. My father took care of everything, preparing the bikes, we all travelled together to the tracks, so it was a family atmosphere. Then when I moved up to more senior categories I had a team and my father took on a different role, he didnât need to be my mechanic any more or drive all those kilometres to every race. We would still train together and this year, now that Iâm training a lot more he still trains with me. I think heâs the proudest father in the world that I am in the championship! Heâs coming to all the races.â
Rollercoaster ride for her father watching on
Sanchez admits that watching her push to the limits on the racetrack has not been easy for her father and an injury scare led to her pausing her career for a sustained period as a teenager, under his advice. âIt must be a really intense experience for him,â she acknowledges. âHe’s super, super nervous and I think he finds it hard watching. When I was younger I had an accident and stopped riding for three years, from 15 years-old to 18. I had a crash in Estoril, it wasnât that bad, but I hit my head and my father got scared by it. When I got home he sold all the bikes and said he didnât want anything more to do with it. So I took a break from racing. When I was 18 I got a chance to come back and at first my father said he didnât want to be involved, but eventually he came back into racing with me and now he follows and fully supports me again.â
Going full-time as an elite rider
Describing her arrival in WorldWCR and the impact it has had on her day-to-day life Sanchez explains, âAway from racing Iâd say I have quite a normal life. Things changed a bit this year with going full-time in the World Championship but Iâd say itâs still a pretty normal life when Iâm at home. I had been working 40 hours a week in an office, but I left that to focus on WorldWCR. Previously I was combining my work with riding and I was able to do that because the company and my colleagues were really helpful when I needed to go to races. Though I still had to do the hours at work and the work would build up for me. My colleagues were amazing and they made a lot of sacrifices to help me go racing, so theyâll always be like a family to me. I do some work for my fatherâs company now, but it is less hours and easier to fit in around racing.â
Commentating the MotoGP on the Catalonian radio
In addition to racing, training and working at her fatherâs company, Sanchez is also in her second season of commenting on the MotoGP for Catalunya Radio, where she brings a technical and riderâs perspective to the race reporting. After initial hesitation, she now fully embraces her role. âIt’s a very enriching experience, I like it.,â she shares. âI listen a lot to the comments of all the riders, the interviews of all the riders, to discover their feelings. So it’s a way that I think helps me later on the track because I analyze circuits that I have never even stepped on, that I don’t know, like this weekend I have Japan and I don’t know it, but I study its layout, all its curves, which are the strong brakes and which are not. So all that also helps me when they are circuits that I know, to analyze them differently, because they are technical aspects that people like to hear. that they like to listen to. So, it contributes to my day-to-day as a rider, because I do a job that maybe I didn’t do before to help those who listen to the races to understand it.âAt home in Gironella with âGasâ the dog
âI live in a small town near the mountains called Gironella,â Sanchez reveals. âI live on my own, with my kids, well by that I mean my cat and my dog! Actually my dog is called âGasâ! Combining my racing with the day-to-day life of my friends can be tricky. Theyâre always meeting up and doing things and I canât join them much. All the birthday parties and get-togethers, I always say yes Iâll be there, then often I canât make it because of racing and training. So I really appreciate it when I do get to spend time with them.â
Like so many⌠inspired by MM93
Describing her admiration for six-time MotoGP⢠World Champion Marc Marquez, Sanchez comments, âBefore Marcâs injuries it was like, itâs all great, but now with everything thatâs happened in his career I think you can see more of what heâs about. I think originally I liked Marc because he was the one winning, heâs from here, heâs a warm person. Now though you can see all the sacrifice and effort he has put into his sporting career to be able to get back on top and win again. Thatâs so motivating, when you have a difficult moment yourself and you feel things arenât going your way, you just have to keep fighting to put it right.â
