Last Update: 29 December 2023
Meet motorcycle racer and Finnish woman rider, Taru Rinne. Taru Rinne achieved 23 championship points in 1989 with a 17th overall finish out 44 male contenders. Undoubtedly Taru is the official “First Lady” of motorcycle road racing.
Taru Rinne started her racing career in 1988 competing in the GP 125cc class on her Honda. Her next season, 1989 qualified her for an astounding 2nd place start at venue Hockenheim where she led the race for a majority of the laps, taking a most exceptional 7th place out of 36 starters, 27 finishers —all men!
This race bettered her previous 8th place winning at my former home circuit, Assen, The Netherlands.
FROM KARTING CHAMPION TO MOTORCYCLES
Rinne began her love of the track on four wheels as an avid karting “competitor-ess”. She competed against future Formula One drivers Mika Häkkinen , Mika Salo and Jyrki Järvilehto on multiple occasions. She won the 1979 Finnish 85 cc karting championship. She battled often with Häkkinen – in 1981 finished second in the series with Häkkinen as the champion. The next year Taru won the series again and Häkkinen had to settle for second place. In 1983 she took first place again leaving Häkkinen with second, however, her title was removed and she was banned from racing for one year for using illegal fuel! This eventually ended her promising karting career.
Taru then decided to go for two-wheel competition and made her début in what was then called the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix — today’s MotoGP; in 1988 in the 125cc class.
It was a promising career where she achieved 23 championship points in 1989 with a 17th overall finish out of over 44 point winning fellas! Rinne is most undoubtedly she is the official “First Lady” of Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix!
A bad crash in 1991 occurred during her 21 July race at Paul Ricard venue in France where Taru badly broke both her ankles. She aimed to recover and continue racing as soon as possible, yet a letter received from Bernie Ecclestone, who at that time, decided which riders were allowed to compete in the series, stated she was not qualified to compete but would be allowed to race again in 1992. It’s been said that this letter was the biggest disappointment of her life. This ended her career yet it seems in what information I’ve sourced, that she competed again, nationally, and in the 1993 German championship.
Below pictured with famed Giacomo Agostini on guess who’s race bike? That would be Eddie Lawson.
Taru Rinne and Katja Poensgen remain the pioneering women in MotoGP history, being the sole female achievers at this level of motorcycle racing since its establishment in 1949. They were later joined by Elena Rosell (Moto2) and Maria Herrrara (Moto3) in 2011, followed by Ana Carrasco Gabarrón in 2013, marking significant milestones. Ana Carrasco Gabarrón, a Spanish racer, notably secured the 15th position in the Malaysian MotoGP, becoming the first Spanish female racer to earn points in a MotoGP event. It’s essential to note that the point system serves as a benchmark for the highest accomplishments in the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix.
Despite the 74-year history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing since its inaugural world championship for road motorbikes in 1949, men predominantly maintain a stronghold in this upper echelon of motorcycle road racing.
1 comment
Taru is so cute and was very good rider.
I remember her achievements in 125 cc
world championships.
Recently Mika Häkkinen named her second
hardest after Schumacher. Häkkinen was
competing with her in karting.
Now we have good news from Andorra. Taru
got her name among legends in the FIM gala.
My greetings and thanks for the nice bike
racing years to Taru.