Help get Benoni motorbike racer get to Italy
She needs this opportunity to impress an international team that will race in the inaugural FIM Women's World Championships, which will take place over six rounds in Europe, next year.
An amazing opportunity beckons for Benoni AH motorbike racer, Savannah Woodward (22).
She has been invited to participate in the Women’s European Championship at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, known as Imola Circuit, in Italy in October.
Woodward will compete in a wild card race in the final round of the Supersport (SSP) 300 Women’s European Championship.
This race will also be a test for the biker after she was offered a place in an international team that will contest the inaugural FIM Women’s World Championship next year.
Her regular social media engagements with European sponsors through her #Savannah77 brand caught the eye of this Italian racing team that wants to see her live on the track.
But, to get to Italy, she needs funding.
“Please help get me to Italy. Any contribution will help and is appreciated,” she pleaded.
“I want to be the first South African woman in the SSP class. The race is a test. I have been offered a place in the women’s superbikes championship. That’s why I am pushing so hard to get to Italy.”
“I want to be like Brad Binder to inspire other little girls. All I ask is to help get me back and get the dream alive.”
Like many others in South Africa, Woodward was affected by Covid-19, which resulted in her losing her international sponsors.
“It’s an amazing sport but is expensive. Competing internationally is expensive as well. I want to get the support I had before Covid-19. Unfortunately post-Covid the international sponsors only want to help their riders,” said Woodward.
The 22-year-old started riding bikes 16 years ago in the terrains of the Benoni AH, where years of riding helped her forge a successful career in motocross.
As the only female racer in the testosterone-fuelled off-road tracks in the country, she learned early she had to be ‘one of the boys’ and train twice as hard to compete.
“They felt intimidated. They would try to break me down. I had to build myself to be strong and only worry about the race because what they said didn’t matter.”
She finished her first-ever race in the 14th position, but through perseverance and determination, she ended up placing third overall in the championship.
After her successes in motocross, Woodward moved to the track, where the difference in style resulted in a slow start. But through the help of the South African Motorcycle Racing Academy (SAMRA), she was back on top and racing in superbike races internationally.
“Two years after moving from motocross, I was one of only 10 South Africans invited to compete in Holland. I was the only female and this was my first superbike race,” she said.
In 2018, the international racer represented South Africa in the Italika World Cup in Mexico but her career came to a standstill when she sustained an injury in a race during the event, spending five days in ICU with frontal lobe damage.
She was confined to a wheelchair for a while, but her goal since the accident has always been to get back on the track and represent South Africa internationally.
“I’ve been through a lot in racing. My life is built around racing. Sitting on the sidelines was nothing like the adrenaline you get on the track.
To donate, go to https://www.backabuddy.co.za/savannah-woodward-5624734457027236312 or into these banking:
• Bank: FNB
• Account no: 62728330325
• Branch code: 250655
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