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Joining the Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team, Alyssia "Lissy" Whitmore is the only representative from Great Britain engaged in the first season of the Women's World Championship. A great honor for the 19-year-old, who dreams of one day taking part in the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man as well.
"It's a dream with a plan that will come soon. It’s not something that we are focusing on at the minute, but it is a dream," Lissy told the organizers of the championship, explaining where her passion for motorcycling and road racing came from: "I started on the pit bikes, then when I got to the big bikes I just gravitated towards people who were road racers and had done the TT. So it rubbed off on me and it’s something that is different. It looks exciting, I don’t know how to describe it. I just love the idea of it, the commitment. It’s strong."
Whitmore already got her first taste of road racing last year when she took part in Oliver's Mount in Scarborough, the only road race in England. It was on dirt roads, however, that the Briton took her first steps into the world of two wheels at the age of eight, riding a 50cc. dirt bike in a field owned by a friend of her father's.
Lissy Whitmore, the "Purple Princess" with the Schwantz-inspired #34
An early experience that led Lissy to focus on motorcycles and begin her own racing journey in British Mini Bikes in 2017, completing half a season despite financial constraints. And the entire championship the following year. Having obtained her ACU license in 2019, the then 14-year-old competed in British Talent Cup selections and, despite not being chosen, continued her journey first with a KTM RC390 and then a Yamaha R3. After a complicated 2020 and an injury-scarred 2021, the "Purple Princess " managed to complete a season in British Junior Supersport, under the banner of the OMG Racing team, before embarking on this new adventure in the Women's World Championship.
"My goal is to make good progress, have fun, and have good experiences," commented Lissy, who in her college days had been preparing to join the British Royal Air Force but could not achieve her goal due to health reasons. With grit and dedication, the Briton nevertheless pursued her racing career with the full support of her father and later her mother. "I never really chose bike racing, it chose me," said the 19-year-old, who prides herself on being an inspiration to future generations of female riders, to whom goes her encouragement, "No matter how much you think you can’t do it, you can!"
Also as particular as her path was Whitmore's choice of race number, in action with #34 in honor of Kevin Schwantz.
"When I was growing up I watched MotoGP with my dad all the time and he always used to tell me that his favourite rider was Kevin Schwantz, because apparently Valentino Rossi’s favourite rider was Kevin Schwantz," she explained , "Then when I started racing I was trying to pick a race number, it was between #55 and #34, because of Kevin Schwantz and 55 because it was Li55y. I was like, every person I saw has already done that with their name and number. So I thought, I’m going to do #34, because not a lot of kids appreciate and understand the older style MotoGP, the 500s and the 250s"
Automatic Translation by DeepL
