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SBK, Jessica Howden: "My father is my idol, without him I wouldn't be anywhere"

"In the last two years he has helped me a lot mentally, and it is thanks to him that I got into racing. My favorite driver? Marc Marquez, he has always come back really strong from difficulties"

SBK: Jessica Howden:

From Cape Town to the Women's World Championship, via Zimbabwe and the paddocks of the CIV SS300, ESBK and the European Women's Championship: this is how one can sum up the path that led Jessica Howden to defend the flag of South Africa in this first edition of the FIM Women's Circuit Racing World Championship (WorldWCR).

A path that the 21-year-old Trasimeno team rider began inspired by her father, a car driver and great motorsport enthusiast. "My dad has always been my idol and I know he loves motorsport, so it inspired me to make him proud and finally race in a World Championship," Howden told the organizers of the Women's World Championship, talking about her journey and relationship with her father.

"When I was younger my dad would watch a lot of WorldSBK and MotoGP races, so immediately I was drawn to it. The relationship became stronger when I started racing because he loves the sport so he wanted to help as much as he could," the South African continued, "The relationship is really, really strong with my dad. He even stopped racing so that he could help me more. That’s been really important for me because without him I wouldn’t be anywhere. It’s been more on the mental side where he has helped me most in the last two years. Although the physical side is important the mental part is the main part which I speak with my Dad about. Mentally racing is tough, but he has a strong personality. I stress way too much before a race and he is always helping me to be calm."

However, her father was not the only person who had a big impact on Jessica's career. In fact, compatriots Savannah Woodward and Nicole van Aswegen also helped the 21-year-old take her first steps into the world of two-wheel racing.

"When I was 14, I used to go with my father to the track every weekend because he raced cars. I saw a woman named Savannah Woodward racing on the track and told my dad I wanted to try it. She won the race and the next weekend we went back there and I rode a motorcycle, that's when I started racing," she recalled, "I would say Savannah was the one I looked up to the most when I started with racing and we still talk to each other a lot.

Still talking about his beginnings, the current Trasimeno team rider added, "My first bike was a Honda CBR250. I fell in love from the first lap and knew I wanted to continue. I didn't race on that Honda, I immediately switched to a Yamaha R3 and raced on that here in South Africa. Nicole van Aswegen was also my coach, she taught me for a year and taught me a lot. It's amazing that we now race against each other and battle often!"

With Howden and van Aswegen, South Africa can have as many as two representatives at the start of the Women's World Cup. This is a source of great pride for Jessica, the first rider from the African continent to win a victory in the Women's European Championship in 2022.

"Racing against the best women in the world means a lot to me, it makes me very proud of how far we have come," she said, " I have noticed how the other girls in the paddock encourage you, in the sense that they all support each other, both in private and on the track. I am very proud to represent my country because you don't often see a South African in the sport, and that makes me very happy."

Despite her young age, Howden knows what it is like to be faced with injuries. Indeed, in 2023 she saw her season compromised by a fractured thumb and dislocated shoulder in the preseason, while this year she suffered a concussion following a fall in the opening round of the Women's World Championship in Misano. Perhaps that is also why he has pointed to precisely two figures who have faced many difficulties in their careers, such as Marc Marquez and Simone Biles, as his favorite rider and athlete.

"I’ve supported Marc Marquez since I was young, maybe 10 years-old. What I have seen from him is that in the moments he struggles he always comes back really strongly," he explained, " As for female athletes, my favorite is Simone Biles. I saw that previously she wasn’t ready mentally and she has come back so strong. I watched the documentary on her and it’s really impressive her story."

Automatic Translation by DeepL

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