Ride Your Dream

I'm in charge of social media for our three teams

and 96% of our followers are men.

It's always been said, "If a girl races a bike she's crazy."

There are many more men than women in the world of motorbikes.

I'm one of the few female mechanics.

If you see 35 people, you don't know their sex because of the helmet.

You take it for granted they're men because of your culture, your biases.

You see 35 men.

It surprised me. I thought it was brave of a girl

to be part of a world that was dominated by men up to now.

She had something special even as a little girl.

Apart from the fact she's a girl in a man's world.

From what I gathered, she was very clear about her future.

Women are very underrepresented in motorcycling.

She's a woman in a man's world.

I'm Ana Carrasco, I'm 22 years old,

I'm from a village in Murcia called Cehegín,

and I'm a world championship motorcycle rider.

My dream has always been to become world champion.

I'm one of the lucky few who has actually achieved it.

My dad is the main reason why we're talking about this today.

My dad always used to take us to do sport together,

to go running in the mornings, cycling in the mountains.

We bought a motorbike so the three of them could try it out.

She took snacks and sandwiches.

The kids were getting on and off the bike all the time.

We gave them a snack

and spent the afternoon that way, sort of like a hobby.

It started off as a hobby and...

as a way of having fun, like going out on a bicycle.

She'd ride a mini motorbike...

and that way she'd play and have fun.

The three of us would go everywhere with my mum and dad.

Yes, we'd get on the motorbike right from when we were little.

We all had the same opportunities to ride bikes as my sister Ana.

First, my sister María Victoria, then my sister Ana, then me.

María Victoria didn't like it, I thought it was fun,

but I preferred playing football, so in the end...

the motorbike was left sitting there.

Time went by.

Her sister didn't want to carry on

because when she fell over she realised it was dangerous.

I started crying and said I didn't want to carry on,

I didn't want to ride the bike again because I was afraid. So I got off.

Her little sister was over the moon, now the bike was hers.

It was our hobby,

but Ana was the one who was into it.

As parents, we supported her

as much as we could when she demanded things.

I was given my first bike as a present when I was three

and I made my dad put it in my room so I could sleep with it.

When I was four I wanted to race, but they wouldn't let me.

I cried for three days solid until they agreed.

We started taking her so that she would have fun,

but actually she was the one who got us involved in the races.

She was competing by the time she was four.

We're finally joined by the star. Gosh, Ana, you go so fast.

Yes.

How come you ride so well?

Well...

I don't know.

You accelerate in some spots and brake in others.

How come you ride so well?

I accelerate quickly and brake late.

You're just a kid, aren't you scared to ride such a big bike?

No.

No? Well I'd be scared.

It doesn't scare me.

How do you concentrate in a race? What do you do?

What do you think about on the bike?

I imagine that it's just training and that I'm by myself.

What do your parents say?

They say I'm the best.

Do you want to be a professional motorbike rider when you grow up?

Yes.

Who do you want to be like? Who's your idol?

Dani Pedrosa.

Ladies and gentlemen: Dani Pedrosa.

Álex Márquez.

Ana Carrasco.

Yes, I think that the goal is to be here every year.

I think that it helps to encourage the presence of women in motorcycling.

Seeing that women like Laia Sanz, or me in this case,

are obtaining good results in traditionally more male categories.

That helps the grassroots to grow.

I'm very pleased to be here yet another year,

it's a sign that last year was a great season for us.

The feeling on the grid when you have your eyes shut...

You have to say to yourself, "I'm in charge because I'm here."

Today we have one hope of winning the championship.

Today is the day.

Okay, Mara, we go in with P6.

Come on, come on, come on!

Come on, damn it.

56-2-1. Hendra has made 56-5 but she's slightly ahead.

She was two tenths faster in the first half-time.

Oh, Dad! Dad!

- I couldn't overtake. - That doesn't matter.

You did a great job. You did a great job, believe me.

I couldn't overtake him.

- He was blocking me. - You did a great job, take it easy.

Relax.

Take it easy. You got third position.

- Enjoy, we'll look at it later. - I'm pissed off.

Just enjoy your result.

After a bad result like the one we got,

she'd burn down everything.

She'd burn the box, everything. She's very angry.

I'm not crazy. If the bike is fine, I go fast. If it isn't, I don't race.

Ana is very demanding.

She likes everything to go...

as smoothly as possible.

- The front one... - Yes.

I get a weird feeling...

And that makes her demand a lot of others. Even me.

She can be demanding with me. Sometimes...

I forget things that she is very clear about...

and we end up...

having our differences.

When Ana is angry....

Wow.

He was messing about with me.

I was telling him to go for it.

And he was like this.

Out of twelve laps, we can't screw up ten.

We just can't.

What I mean by "wow" is that I've seen her angry...

and I find it cool.

It's cool because she's explosive.

I lost it on the run-off area...

- I saw it from up there. - Bloody hell.

If they don't go fast, you catch them up in three turns.

They told me when I joined the crew.

"Careful with Ana when she's angry, she doesn't mince her words."

Ana is really good.

I've seen a lot of riders

and the time comes that when you see one racing,

you realise how good they can be.

Go for it, Ana! Go for it! Go for it!

She's very communicative.

Then you check it out with the data

and see that's she's right.

She helps quite a bit when tuning-up the bike.

It needed to be half a tooth longer on the crank trigger.

It's hard for me to stop the bike here.

The change we made to the fork has got worse.

I think that when Ana is on the bike

she feels everything or nothing. I think that’s when

she can completely let herself go

and feel free.

What I liked about riding is that I could be myself.

It was what I liked doing,

I was by myself and I could do whatever I wanted.

There is nothing that lets you

feel that free, that independent.

Jesus. This girl really races.

She gives her all, you see her working every day,

doing sport every day,

being careful about what she eats. She's super strict.

I enjoy riding fast.

Feeling that everything is going fine and I can do what I want.

I love the feeling of speed on a bike.

She says that it feels like she's sprinting all the time.

That is what is fun for me, but...

it's very different

getting on a bike to have fun and getting on it to win.

She's competitive in everything. Since she was little.

She couldn't lose at a video game, she couldn't lose a football match.

She always ended up quarrelling because she always wanted to win.

We went on holiday where there was a racing circuit nearby.

We spent the morning on the beach, they'd play like all the other kids.

And in the afternoons, training at the circuit.

There was always a circuit somewhere on all the holidays we ever took.

We could go and play with the others. If we went out to play.

There were maybe 10 or 20 other families

who were doing the same thing. They liked it and had fun.

It was a lifestyle that made them happy.

It was always motorbikes, motorbikes, motorbikes. She wanted more.

But it kept on growing and there comes a time when you can't stop it.

You see that she likes it, she enjoys it.

I think that it was something that we enjoyed and had fun doing,

but I knew from the start that it was what I wanted to do.

That's the life she's chosen.

It always has been.

There's no stopping it.

When she began competing in regional championships

on those mini motorbikes,

the people around us who were also competing said the same.

They said she was talented and a good rider.

And because we saw that she was having fun...

We had a motorhome.

When we went to bigger circuits, we set it up there.

It was like our second home. We'd spend all our weekends there.

Like fairground workers, but going from one circuit to another.

Something like that.

Always training and rushing off to all the championships.

And as she got older, the championship level went up.

It was something she was set on from when she was a kid.

From the moment she tried it, she wanted more and more.

She won three championships in one season.