Mara

Tyre Specialist, Kawasaki Racing Team

Interviewed in October 2024

Mathilde

Engine engineer, Kawasaki Racing Team, Akira Technologies

Interviewed in October 2024

Lucrezia

Mechanic, 511 Racing Team

Interwieved in October 2024

Lucia

Mechanic, 511 Racing Team

Interviewed in September 2024

Federica

Mechanic, HRC TEAM GARIBOLDI RACING, MXGP

Interviewed in August 2024

Aurora

Tire specialist, Pro Dina Racing, WSBK, Mechanic

Interviewed in August 2024

Midori

Team Owner & Director, MIE Racing, PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team

Interviewed in June 2024

Vee

Motorsports Technical & Sporting Official, Sporting steward and Scrutineer FIA, FIM, ASN, EMSO, Member of the International Technical Commission (CTI), FIM

Interviewed in June 2024

Merci

Master Student, Tire specialist, YART Racing, EWC Series

Enduro: KTM 125 EXC | Supermoto track: Husqvarna FS 450 | Street: KTM 790 Duke | Tour: KTM 890 SMT & KTM 530 EXC

Interviewed in May 2024

"First time EWC at Spa: It was a wonderful day, I was on a world famous circuit with great people, the bikes were whizzing around and I was a little cog in the wheel, making sure our bike set one fastest time after another. I was in heaven moon that day and knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life!"

"Keyword family. It's not just during the race that everyone works perfectly together, but also before and especially after the sessions, everyone sits down together, has a drink and we have interesting conversations. I like to call it quality time"

"If motorbikes weren't my passion, I would hardly volunteer for a 24-hour race!"

"When I have three times as many things to do as I can manage in one day, that's when I'm happiest, because then I can really get stuck in and I'm never bored. That's when I have the most fun."

Melissa

Team Owner, MP13 Racing, racing athlete

Track: Yamaha R1 | MX: Yamaha YZ250F & YZ125 | Flat track: YZ450F and TTR125

Interviewed in April 2024

"In racing I found a thing that can - all the demons inside of me, it gives them a healthy place to play. That feeling when you're on the bike, you can't replicate that, but it's the only time I can get all the voices to shut up in my head."

"I just want to win, it just feels good, man. It feels so good when you win a race, and you're just chasing that high all the time, once you feel it, like it's, I imagine it's the same thing like drugs. I want to see a bike that I built sitting in winner's circle. And I want to say hey, I did that."

"I have the benefit of a pretty cool education in racing: my husband was a top-level racer and I was allowed to sit in, while he was talking with his crew chief for years. like a fly on the wall in really high level debriefs. They were thinking, Oh, it's just his wife, we can say anything she's not listening. I learned a lot like that."

"I really had to explain to people: She's not bossy. She's a manager, you know? I mean, that's her job. She isn't "bossy"... She is the boss."

Chloé

Race Data Engineer, Unicornium Engineering, AiM Sports, Team Hammer Inc
Performance Engineer, Harley Davidson, amateur racing athlete

Track: Yamaha R6 | KTM Super Moto | MX snow bike

Interviewed in March 2024

Julia

Owner and Co-Director, Schwabenleder, racing athlete

Track: Yamaha R6

"My profession doesn't exist in itself. There is no such thing as a bespoke tailor who works exclusively with leather and produces technical clothing. It is really just learning by doing. Vocational school wasn't easy for me either, because I had to sew men's jackets and women's skirts and then when I was back here at home, I had to make a racing suit."

"For me, passion in something is when I am doing something and I'm happy every millisecond of the time. And the cherry on the cake is this indescribable feeling of freedom - because you're simply at peace with yourself."

"If you stay brave and try really hard, you'll keep going. And then the obstacle is overcome at some point and then everything is fine again."

"I'm simply not afraid of falling and not afraid of pain, and I ride my motorbike accordingly. Always at the limit."
Interviewed in February 2024

Beatriz

Software Engineer, KTM Racing

Interviewed in February 2024

"We always work on the lap time. Everything that we do is to go faster. This is the important thing. This is our target. It doesn't have to be beautiful or nice. It has to be faster, allow the rider to go faster, allow the technician, the engineers that are working there, to be faster. Sometimes they just have some seconds to analyze, to decide and to apply."

"When I was a girl, I always watched the races on TV. I always saw myself and my future linked do this, do work in sport racing. When I was grown-up, one day, I printed my dossier, CV and everything and I went to the paddock and I began to distribute it to all the team managers."

"There are some obstacles that you don't need to overcome. You just need to ignore them: When I was applying for a job. I received a note and the reason was no, because you are a woman and mechanics can get distracted in the garage. So what can you answer? There is no reply in this situation. You just say, okay, this is not a battle to fight."

"When we speak, we are not learning anything because it's something that we already know, but when we are listening, we are learning."

"My job is my passion, and my passion is my job. It's something that you feel when you speak about motorcycling, it’s this kind of adrenaline that you have when you are in this world. I love the adrenaline in every fight and every race. I mean, it's my engine, I can't live without this."

Emilie

Data engineer for Microlise Cresswell Racing & former race mechanic in the Moto Rapido Ducati British Superbike team

Yamaha FZR 400RR | Ducati Monster | Street: Suzuki GS 500

Interviewed in January 2024

"My grandfather was a Grand Prix racer in the 1950s, racing at circuits like the Isle of Man TT, the equivalent of MotoGP. That was my mom's father. She's had this crazy motorsport upbringing, and it's kind of just filtered down, I guess. So yeah, it felt like that's where I should be."

"As a mechanic it's really important to have a good relationship with your rider, because you don't want to be a distraction at all. You almost want to be invisible for them."

"I am a real believer of “if people can see it, they can be it”, and that’s why I try to volunteer as much time as I can to really promote women in engineering."

"I will never stop until the job is done. I would just stay there, making sure it was done and check stuff meticulously, because I never wanted something that I oversaw to be a problem. I guess is probably why I've become an engineer now."

Säri

Construction Engineer, Breaks and Wheels, Research and Development, KTM & amateur racing athlete

Track: Suzuki GSXR 600 | Street: Suzuki Gladius SV 650

Interviewed in January 2024

"When I arrive at the racetrack with a beer, nobody thinks I'm an engineer. I always say something, like saleswoman. I just enjoy making fun of people because it's this typical cliché that you can't be a woman, know engineering and ride a motorbike."

"I'm someone who doesn't like to give up. If I put my mind to it, I have to finish it."

"There are just a lot of people here who love the smell of petrol & are oily-happy and just enjoy life"

"I've known since I was 14 that I wanted to study mechanical engineering and it's always been a bit of a dream to work in the motorbike sector. I also said as a child that I would move to Austria one day."

Lucie

Planning & Order Manager, Polestar Switzerland, former Race mechanic, Hess Racing

Interviewed in December 2023

"Passion is a mixture of emotions - the emotions that make me feel alive."

"I don't really care what people think, it was so natural for me to go this way. I just do my thing."

"Riding a motorbike is not something I discovered by chance one day, it's something that's always been in me."

"When you see your rider pull into the pits during the race and you hear the engine rattling, you have to accept that. It's part of the game."

Michelle

Independent Suspension Mechanic, Stäger Suspension

Cross: Yamaha 250 4T Cross | Honda 250 2T CR | Suzuki 250 2T RM

Interviewed in November 2023

"Suspensions is a topic in itself. You have to know your way around it and I think that's cool, you know, you just need the experience and you only get that over the years."

"When someone comes in with a problem and they go out, they go on a ride and come back and say hey, that's world class. This joy, this happiness in the heart. That's why customer feedback is important to me, whether it's positive or negative, you can always learn from it."

"I've been passionate about motorbikes since I was little, I learnt to ride when I was six, I don't know any other way, I couldn't imagine being without a motorbike."

". ... and I was sitting there at the racetrack and I realised, hey shit, I really missed it!"

Nina

Mechanic and Tech-Talk Speaker, Motohall, KTM

Cross: KTM 250 SXF Factory Edition

Interviewed in November 2023

"If I enjoy and like something and I realise "Oh cool, I want more of that!", then I just ask for more of it in my life and then it actually turns up."

"I enjoy riding, it's actually an addition and new knowledge for me to get better as a technician."

"I never have the same two days in a row because there's always something new and that's what makes my job so exciting. I'm probably also partly to blame for the fact that it doesn't become a simple routine."

"You make 35,000 decisions every day and can change your life so easily. You just have to want to."

Ronja

Functional Developer Bodywork, BMW Motorrad & amateur racing athlete

Track: Suzuki GSX R 57 K6 | Off-piste: Beta RR 2T

Interviewed in September 2023

"I deal with motorbikes every day and I celebrate it so much."

"This way of working is super cool, that you think about something, change something, experience and test it and in the end you really feel the result and that you have achieved something."

"There is really nothing better in my life. I can't do anything or I haven't done anything yet in my life, whether it's holidays, sports, social contacts, that fulfils me as much as riding a motorbike"

"My mother always said that motorcycling was my drug. I never really drank alcohol or did any other crazy things, didn't party excessively and then she always said: Yeah, you have to drive 300 km/h on the road for that."

Anna

Working Student at FEV (Drive development), motorcycle division, engine application

Bike: Honda CBR 600RR PC 40

Interviewed in August 2023

"I'm a person who likes to know exactly what's going on and I think the more you get into it, the more interesting and exciting it is."

"I don't think there are many people who have decided to go into motorbike development just to spend their days in the office. They all have a passion for the product and the lifestyle somewhere."

"You also have to do things that are not in your comfort zone, simply try things out, make your own decisions and see things through yourself."

"Although I feel very comfortable in a male environment, it would actually be really nice to have a few more women in the profession who are also passionate about the subject."

Jenny

Mechanic,alpha Racing & racing athlete

Street: Husqvarna NUDA 900 / Husqvarna 510 SM - Track: Yamaha R6

"... she's got the transponder from her boyfriend anyway - yeah, if that's the case then my boyfriend would have to take the transponder from me"

"I try to be as sensible as possible in my life and also in the race, I always try to calculate everything 100%, what pays off and what doesn't? If I see the risk is too high, I don't do it"

"Apparently, I'm a person who brakes very little. Well, according to my brake pads, that's really the case, because I've had them in my racing bike for three years and then only throw them out because of my conscience."

"I just have the riding style, I don't leave the throttle open for so long and I brake less. But I carry a lot of speed into the bend. I have so much confidence in the front wheel that I can do that."