In Summary
- Joy Nkatha is the only female biker racing in a male dominated sport.
- She got a standing ovation in the latest Sleek Superbike Series race held on 18th June 2023
- She says her best day is when she got the bike, while her worst is yet to come!
Joy Nkatha was the only female bike racer in that last held Sleek Super biker race on the 18th of June 2023. She finished 3rd but got the standing ovation when her name was mentioned for her courage and determination in the rare sport.
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“There is a lot of attention that comes with racing being that I am the only female racer at the moment. But I like to look at it from the point that I can motivate other ladies to know that even ladies can participate in Motorsports.”
How Nkatha started riding and got her first bike.
A young lady with big dreams is how she describes herself. She drawn to bikes because they looked cool.
“I used to see bikes on the road and thought that they were very cool. So I decided I wanted one and I got one.”
The go getter then chased her newfound dream, went for Modern Rider training and got her license. Next was to shop for a bike and got on with it. Assisted by Sleek Trading Limited, to her joy, Nkatha got herself a Kawasaki ZX6R as her first bike.
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From a simple dream of riding to racing
Joy met other bikers who influenced her to the track. First, they made her comfortable by taking her for rides to build her confidence.
“One time they invited to me to go to the track – Whistling Moran Athi River. I would go and watch racers practice and then soon I was convinced to enter and have a feel of the track. That is how I started training to race”.
The daring dream chaser participated in her first race on 6th November 2022. The Sleek Superbike Series Round 2 held on 18th June was her 3rd. Just how she will be on her 5th is left for imagination as her confidence and understanding of the sport keeps building.
Her inspiration
Joy was inspired by fellow bikers who have been riding for long especially racers. She believes that by her not giving up and participating in races consistently will encourage ladies.
“I’m not as good but happy just to participate”.
She hasn’t had a bad day as a biker yet, and her best day is when her bike arrived.
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Nkatha is a member of the Bike Scene Africa which is a community of bikers. They have come together to support each other and to have fun. They organize and participate in various Motorsport events. She helps in coordination of bikers during events and keep financial records of the club.
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