Taking on the freedom of the open road with Sonja

The largest female motorcycle relay across the world is well underway.

One of our own woman riders, Sonja le Roux is taking part in this incredible journey.

Sonja and her fellow-bikers will depart from Sandton on January 2 and on January 9 hand over the official Women’s Riders World Relay (WRWR) baton to their Namibian counterparts.

WRWR is a worldwide motorcycle relay, founded by Hayley Bell, in August 2018, with the goal of encouraging women in motorsports.

The relay aims to raise awareness of women across all spheres of motorcycling.

It officially started on February 27 and continued across the globe via a hand-carved baton being passed from woman to woman, country to country.

The relay baton will travel around 100 countries, with riders signing their names under it.

“I wanted to ignite a global sisterhood of inspirational women to promote courage, adventure, unity and passion for biking from all corners of the world and do something that’s never been done before to this scale. My aim is to wow the industry into realizing the global market for women in motorsports and to inspire women worldwide. Going into motorcycle stores and seeing a lack of choice, combined with stereotypical pink and being told ‘there just isn’t the market for women’, highlighted to me just one small element of a much bigger picture around women in motorsports.
I want to show the industry the force behind the market that is so blindly overlooked,” said Hayley.

Back on home ground Sonja is no novice when it comes to motorbikes.

She can often be seen opening up all throttles at Phakisa Raceway.

Her best time at Smile Raceway was 199.3km/h on a 400m stretch she did in 11:52 seconds.

This 48-year-old biker always dreamt of riding a bike and taking the thrilling bends and turns the road has to offer. It was in 1994 that her dream became a reality.

“Since the first time I felt the freedom on a bike, there was just no stopping,” she said.

Sonja said this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and she intends to enjoy every km of the 5 100km she is going to travel on her BMW GS series motorbike.

The South-African leg of the relay will be creating awareness for Riding with a Limb campaign.

This is a project of Kirsty Watts Foundation who helps children country-wide with prosthetic limbs.