32-year-old Avalon is a busy mother-of-one who juggles parenthood and a job in marketing with an international racing career. Born and raised in New Zealand, she now lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband and baby boy.
“We only moved in June last year, a big move motivated by my husband’s work. We’re from Christchurch in New Zealand so where we are now is about a four-hour flight away. We had a six-month baby in tow too, but it’s a great opportunity for him in terms of work and he now runs the Australian arm of a motorsport electronics company called Link Engine Management. I work part-time for the company too and they’ve really supported us during the move to Australia.”
“Our son is not yet 2, and so life’s just chaos, like absolute chaos. I think it’s important to just be flexible, that’s something you definitely learn as a parent! If you try and stick to a routine, it gets blown out anyway. We have different plans pretty much for every round, so while my husband and son came to the first Assen round, they stayed home for Cremona. At home, every day you’re just trying to fit in training really. Trying to wake up and train with a baby is nearly impossible, so at times I’m doing 20-minute sessions just to get something done. Living in Australia is great because the weather’s good to go to the park and he can chase a ball around while I exercise. Being flexible is key, but it’s a massive juggling act.”
Around the world and back
Avalon first came to Europe to compete at just 19, travelling across the globe to fulfil her racing dream…
“After one year of university in New Zealand, I realized I really wanted to race overseas and so was trying to find sponsorship. I basically went from riding a 125 GP to a 600 four-stroke, with only a couple of months of training time before heading to one of the most competitive countries in the world – yeah, I don’t recommend that pathway to anyone!”
“I did three years of the Italian Championship and two in the European Junior Cup. I started the first ever Supersport 300 World Championship season, but it didn’t really work out, so I went back home after that. I’d been working closely with the marketing team of a sponsor in New Zealand and I really liked what they did, so I went back home and got a job in marketing. I then finished off my university degree as well, which was a business degree, majoring in marketing, and I’ve worked in marketing ever since.”
“I’ve always competed in the New Zealand Championship, which runs over the summer, from December through to April. My husband and I both race, so it’s always busy. At times it’s really hard, especially to afford it, and you just have to keep the ball rolling to try and get sponsorship in and things like that. But yeah, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to ride a lot over the years.”
Carving a path
Avalon touches on what she perceives to be the main obstacles for anyone wanting to race, particularly for those choosing to compete overseas.
“It’s such a unique sport. I don’t think there’s super clear pathway yet, but I do think there’s a lot of people back home, especially in Australia, doing a great job, and New Zealand is just starting to invest time in developing the right classes for juniors. Now with the Oceania Junior Cup and the Asia Talent
Cup, we’re seeing quite a few Australians and young Kiwis coming through. So, I think the pathway is getting clearer and clearer.”
“The big challenge for everyone is money. You obviously need to fund it and it’s just a huge amount of money. And if you think about it logically, you think this is crazy. This is a house deposit every year that you’re spending to go racing! The other issue is, if you’re looking for a sponsor from Australia or New Zealand, you need to give them value and marketing and publicity in Australia and New Zealand where these companies are based, but then you’re coming to Europe and racing here. So, it’s tough to give them value for money and to keep that going long term. And then there’s the challenge of getting into a good team, easier said than done when you come from the other side of the world. When you first arrive here, you don’t know who you’re going to be working with or even if your bike’s going to be a good one! This is one good thing about WorldWCR because it essentially removes this ‘unknown’ aspect.”
“WorldWCR helps create that pathway for people like me who are from outside of Europe. It’s pretty hard to get here and to get into a World Superbike paddock or anything like that so I think championships like this and what Yamaha are doing with their BluCru initiative is so powerful, allowing us to be able to turn up, jump on a bike, go race and be competitive. Yeah, I think this is the way forward for our junior riders. Back in my day, if you didn’t get into Red Bull Rookies there was nothing!”
In it to win it
After many years competing in male-dominated fields in racing series around the world, Avalon recognizes the impact that the creation of a women-only series can have on the sport.
“I’m here to fight for the opportunity to be world champion, a chance I’ve never had before. That’s my driving force. A couple of people asked me what I’d do if I won the championship. Because it’s not like we’re here making money out of it, in fact it’s costing my family money. But you wouldn’t ask Alvaro Bautista, so you’ve won WorldSBK, what are you going to do now? You go for another world title, don’t you? That’s sport, that’s what you do. So, I think having this opportunity now is so important for women and I think eventually it will get to the point where we will make money, the women in this championship, but it will take time.”
“This opportunity for us to be Women’s World Champion, I think it will definitely grow the sport. And the riders can still choose to race in other championships or compete with the men if that’s what they want to do. I mean Ana (Carrasco) has 100% proved that, with the 300s, but I think it’s yet to be proved in the bigger category like 600s and Superbikes.”
“I think unfortunately on our side of the world, riders start quite late. Tara Morrison is doing really well in the 300s and I think she’s aiming to come and do this championship in the next couple of years. There are quite a few girls in Australia and New Zealand that are very fast, but they’re either already studying at university or have careers and just do racing as a hobby. I definitely wouldn’t undermine their talent or anything but they’re not at the stage to come here, whereas if they had started when they were seven or eight years old, you know, these girls would be phenomenal.”
Fueled by challenge
Despite all the sacrifices, juggling of schedules, and international travel, Avalon has no intention of quitting the racing any time soon. Riding for the Carl Cox Motorsport team this season, she is also very grateful to Carl for supporting her WorldWCR journey.
“Carl spends a lot of time in New Zealand and loves motorcycles. He has a great relationship with Ken Dobson, who manages Billee (Fuller) and I. He loves supporting things that wouldn’t happen otherwise. So, I think for him the big difference is that even if it was just a thousand dollars that would make the difference between somebody racing a season in New Zealand or not being on the grid, he would way rather support that than sponsor a WorldSBK Team. He has a real community spirit, which I think probably comes from his career being a DJ, seeing people enjoying themselves. So yeah, I couldn’t ask for anything more than to be sponsored by him, really.”
“Why do I do it? I think I love the challenge. You just feed off that challenge, which is to try and win races. And the closer you get to it, the hungrier you get and the more you want to keep doing it. I have a real love for the sport too. I love that it’s difficult, and that it pulls so many factors together. Runners, for example, need to be physically and mentally strong of course. But here you also have the technical component of the bike, setting up suspension, the gearing, working with the team around you. It’s always a challenge, there’s always ups and downs, but I think that’s probably what hooks you into the sport – and it’s fun of course!” – WorldSBK Press Office
