Iryna Nadieieva (MPS.RT) has a unique story to her racing career. The 29-year-old only began racing four years ago but her rapid rise has seen her compete in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship in its inaugural season. Nadieieva revealed more about her journey to this level, the challenges she’s faced and much more.
HAILING FROM UKRAINE: more about Nadieieva
Ukraine’s 29-year-old Iryna Nadieieva is a woman of many talents who has arrived at top level racing at a relatively late age, having first ridden competitively just four years ago. As a gifted gymnast who is also adept at wakeboarding and snowboarding, she recognises that motorcycles and racing are her true passion. She proudly takes her place on the inaugural WorldWCR grid, hoping to inspire more young Ukrainians to get into racing and she dreams of one day seeing a female MotoGP™ World Champion.
HOW THE PASSION STARTED: “I didn’t have enough money for my own bike, so a friend and I decided to buy one together…”
Explaining how she got into riding on the road first, before taking the path into racing Nadieieva reveals: “I didn’t have enough money for my own bike, so a friend and I decided to buy a Yamaha FZ8 together. I had never been on a bike before. It was unforgettable. If it is close to your heart and you like it, you will understand that from the first moment you try it. It’s a very emotional thing. Motorcycles have given me the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life. I will never forget my first time on a bike and I will never forget my first race. I can’t imagine with what I could replace bikes in my life.” Once she had fallen in love with motorcycles, it was clear that they would eventually become an integral part of her daily life…
STARTING TO RACE: “My first race was at the first round of the Ukrainian championship… I crashed on the first lap on Saturday and got my first podium on Sunday!”
“My story is ‘from the road to racetrack,” says the Ukrainian rider, “I only started racing when I was 25. I wanted to improve my riding, because I wasn’t very confident in my city riding and wanted to do it better. That moment I couldn’t even imagine where this decision would lead me. I found a nice coach and in Kyiv it is difficult with track days, because we have no normal tracks, so we train on karting tracks.” She details how she has quickly made progress from smaller, local circuits and lower capacity bikes to racing at the elite level against the most talented female riders on the planet, adding: “I started on karting tracks on a small bike. My first race was at the first round of Ukrainian Superbike in 2020. I crashed on the first lap on Saturday and got my first podium on Sunday. I felt so alive and absolutely happy. At the end of the season I was second among the women and at the end of 2021 I was already first in the Women’s class and second overall in the Ukrainian STK600 class. In the following years I trained and raced on a Yamaha R1 in the Spanish Yamaha Cup. There were many failures and many victories. But the main thing is that I’m still able to learn, acquire new skills and get faster every day.”
FAMILY BACKGROUND: “My parents never dreamed that their daughter would race a motorcycle!”
Unlike many pro riders who have been encouraged into the sport from a young age by parents and families with a background in racing, Nadieieva has forged her own path into competitive riding. Indeed, it’s even taken some convincing through both actions and words to convince her inner circle of the beauty of racing. She openly states: “My parents never dreamed in their wildest dreams that their daughter would race a motorcycle. In my country there are a lot of stereotypes that motorcycling is an extremely dangerous and very masculine sport. My family initially took my hobby very badly. Mum cried a lot. It took me two years to prove to those around me that this is an interesting sport that requires a lot of work and professionalism. That women can be fast. That it is about discipline and willpower. Now my family supports me a lot and I know that many girls go to Ukrainian motorcycle schools because they want to be like me. This inspires me every day.”
HOPING FOR A LEGACY IN UKRAINE: “I hope that racing will develop in Ukraine, infrastructure will be built…”
“In my opinion my participation in WorldWCR is super important for my country,” Nadieieva asserts. “Racing is at a very poor level in Ukraine. We have just one racetrack, called “Chaika”. It was built in 1973 and never renovated. This season will be challenging for me and my team. Surely, we will learn a lot about racing and will be able to teach others. I hope that my participation will help to increase people’s interest in racing. I want to show how beautiful this sport is. I hope that racing will develop in Ukraine, infrastructure will be built, and many little boys and girls will be able to get a good training base to perform well in competition. Of course, I’m very proud to represent Ukraine. People in Ukraine are very persistent, hard-working. We know how not to give up and go to the end. I will try to be worthy of my country.”
2024 EXPERIENCE: “It’s sport at a very high level, but what I feel and what I’ve seen there is absolutely wonderful”
“I feel like the WorldSBK paddock is very friendly and very warm,” acknowledges Nadieieva, explaining what she has discovered this year to date on the WorldWCR grid. “I thought the competition would be colder maybe, but I feel it’s really good. The girls are wonderful, I like to communicate with them very much. The guys are always very helpful, and I think that the competition is very fair. It really is a very cool place to be. It feels like friends who want to compete with each other. It’s sport at a very high level, but what I feel and what I’ve seen there is absolutely wonderful.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com