Australian Tayla Relph gritted her way to maiden WorldWCR championship points at the first-ever round in Misano on the weekend, despite battling a shoulder injury sustained in a race one incident.

Relph qualified 16th before her debut almost came to a premature end in the opening encounter, crashing out on the opening lap after what was understood to be rear-end contact from another rider.

The incident saw the 27-year-old suffer AC ligament damage in her left shoulder, and after completing warm-up the following morning and receiving medical clearance for race two, she put on a gritty display to cross the line in P12 with four world championship points to her name.

“After yesterday’s crash, I was diagnosed with grade two acromioclavicular (AC) ligament damage,” Relph stated. “Race two I was under some serious pain in the 12-lap race. We lacked strength in the change of direction and mid-corner up shifts, but even with the injuries, I managed a new personal best by 0.7s.

“They have said around 20-25 days to allow for recovery, so we will be doing everything we can to fight for 100 percent fitness heading into Donington Park.”

Spain’s Maria Herrera took out a historic double victory in Italy and leads the championship standings with a 14-point advantage as the series heads to Donington Park in the United Kingdom on 12-14 July for round two.