Kiwi racer Avalon Lewis secures 8th overall in maiden WorldWCR Championship

Kiwi racer Avalon Lewis wrapped up her WorldWCR season in eighth overall after recording a pair of 11th-place finishes during the final race weekend in Spain.

Superpole:

Lewis started the session strongly, consistently lapping inside the top ten and holding around ninth and tenth for much of the run. She set her best lap of 1:53.591 late in the session, ultimately qualifying 13th, just 2.019 seconds off Maria Herrera, who claimed her third pole position of the season.

Race 1:

Lewis made a steady start, holding onto 13th as she fended off pressure from the riders who shared her row on the grid.

At the end of the opening lap, Jessica Howden turned in too sharply and lost control, sliding into the gravel and retiring from the race.

Capitalising on the incident, Lewis gained two positions after overtaking Pakita Ruiz and another rider at the same corner to move up to 11th. Ruiz soon mounted a counterattack, reclaiming the place before pulling away, though Lewis responded by overtaking Astrid Madrigal—who had dropped down the order—to regain 11th.

By the end of lap three, Lewis produced another strong move, passing both Mallory Dobbs and Natalia Rivera to break into the top ten and climb to ninth, a gain of four places in just three laps.

The racing remained close, with Lewis battling to defend her position amid a tightly packed midfield. She and Dobbs traded places several times before Lewis was caught in a pinch move that dropped her from 10th to 13th. With four laps remaining, she began fighting back.

Lewis overtook Madrigal once more and continued to push, reclaiming 11th from Dobbs in the final stages to secure the position at the line.

After a tense closing battle—including contact that saw Paola Ramos handed a penalty—championship leader Maria Herrera was ultimately awarded the win in the penultimate race of the season.

Race 2:

Lining up further forward based on her lap times from the previous day, Lewis started from seventh on the grid, at the front of row three.

She lost one spot off the line as Tayla Relph made a quick getaway from alongside her, but Lewis quickly fought back—retaking the position and also passing Natalia Rivera to climb to sixth. The front pack remained tightly bunched as she battled to hold her ground and chase the leaders.

Roberta Ponziani then found a way through to demote Lewis to seventh before pushing further up the order, with Pakita Ruiz also managing to slip past soon after.

Holding firm in the midfield, Lewis maintained ninth for several laps as the frontrunners contested the final victory of the season. Late in the race, Rivera and Sara Sánchez both overtook her, dropping the Kiwi back to 11th, just outside the top ten.

Despite her best efforts, Lewis couldn’t reclaim the lost ground and crossed the line 11th, matching her result from Race 1.

At the front, Maria Herrera sealed the championship title by five points, while Avalon Lewis concluded her season eighth overall—a strong result at the end of a rollercoaster debut campaign.

Header Image: Avalon Biddle Racing