MONTEREY, Calif. (September 24, 2008) - Picture it: the fastest girls on bikes, dirt and asphalt. Normally they race with the men but for the Corona AMA Superbike Finale, the girls are riding with their peers in the ultra competitive Fast Girls Invitational in the SupermotoUSA series, featuring some of the fastest female riders on two-wheels. The ladies will be racing on the same course with the same rules and the same bikes as the men on the Supermoto track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 27-28.
Supermoto is a fusion of dirt track racing, motocross and road racing. It uses a purpose-built track that is a mix of asphalt for speed (road) racing, dirt with flat turns for flat-track racing and rollers and hits for motocross.
Rebecca Reichardt has been riding motorcycles since she was four years old and grew up around bikes as her parents owned a motorcycle shop. She has been competing in SupermotoUSA for just a year. Asked why she races, Reichert said one word, "Escape." She added, "When you are on a bike racing, you can't think about anything else. You block everything else out and focus on the bike, pavement and passing the person in front of you."
Kim Kridel is owner of Mammoth Motorsports in Rohnert Park, Calif., and she started riding motorcycles three years ago. She rode in her first SupermotoUSA race last year in Reno after only one day of practice. Kridel said, "I got thrown out there on the dirt and loved it."
Zoe Rem always wanted a dirt bike and saved up to buy a Honda CRF150 at age 16. She grew up in New York and decided to move to northern California to pursue motorcycle racing. Living in the Bay Area and working at Motostrano, the local motorcycle shop, was the perfect combination and to keep Rem in gear, parts and with plenty of seat time.
Rem, like Kridel, competed in her first race after one day of practice. She raced in the first Fast Girls Invitational and it was, as she says, "an ego blast" to be on the podium and get a trophy. The track was in Dixon Calif. and it had a dirt section with a big double jump and "cheese-wedge kicker," Rem explained. She got the hole shot, led for the first lap with a terrific battle to the finish and came in second.
The Fast Girls Invitation is a unique race as it is rare that so many talented females are in one competition. The event gets girls out racing against each other and according to Kridel, "it is way more competitive and there is a real possibility to do well."
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was established in 1957. The world-renowned raceway has been operated since its inception by the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP), a not-for-profit 501C(4) corporation. Each race season, SCRAMP donates its net proceeds to the volunteer groups that help put on the races.
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca's world-class 2008 racing schedule includes the Corona AMA Superbike Finale September 27-28 and the Monterey Sports Car Championships featuring the American Le Mans Series October 17-19.