'Baptism of fire' but women's world championship motorcycling team owner Maddi Patterson can 'walk through the flames'
Northern Ireland-based Australian Maddi Patterson describes her induction as the owner and manager of a world championship motorcycling team as a ‘baptism of fire’, but for someone who suffered life-changing burns to 60 per-cent of her body, the former model knows what it takes to triumph in the face of adversity.
Maddi, who married her MotoGP journalist husband and Strabane man Simon in 2022, was engulfed in flames in an accident as she stood around a fire pit with friends in Adelaide in 2020.
She had to learn how to walk again following the horrific incident, as well as enduring a long recovery period, but undeterred she continued to chase her dreams.
After working as a freelance MotoGP reporter, Patterson seized the opportunity to form her own racing team following the announcement of an inaugural FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship – a one-make series for identical Yamaha YZF-R7 bikes – which launched this year over a six-round format in Europe alongside the World Superbike Championship.
As the founder, owner and team principal of the Sekhmet International Motorcycle Racing Team, she took a leap into the unknown, signing USA rider Mallory Dobbs and Britain’s Lissy Whitmore.
It has been an massive challenge that has tested the team’s resolve to the limit, but Patterson is driven to overcome any hurdles that come her way.
Her decision to take the plunge into motorcycle team ownership came a few weeks after a conversation with a friend sowed the seeds for the name of her team, which stems from the Egyptian fire goddess Sekhmet.
“I kind of looked inwards and thought that I relate to that really well actually, having been on fire, and always striving to put others before myself,” Patterson said. “So I said to her that if I ever have a team, that’s what we’ll call it.
“Two weeks later the FIM announced that they were launching a women’s world championship, so it’s been hard work ever since and I’m still not meeting the budgets I need to meet, and it’s an uphill battle, but this was an opportunity I was never going to get again if I didn’t take it.
“Having a team that’s based in Northern Ireland, we’re a completely multicultural team: An Australian team boss who moves to Northern Ireland and a rider from Washington State in the US, a rider from the UK who’s just been replaced by another British rider this week; my business partners, one is British and another is American.”
Dobbs became the first US women to score points in motorcycle circuit racing after finishing 15th at Misano in Italy in a high point for the team and is 22nd in the championship, while Whitmore’s season has been impacted by injury and she is currently sidelined after fracturing her right wrist following a crash at Cremona in Italy.
Patterson said: “I don’t know what I thought it was going to be like but I definitely didn’t think it was going to be this, and again that goes back to it being really hard work and I’m tired, but equally the opportunity to do something incredible doesn’t come around every day.
“We’re fighting a battle at the moment, we’re looking for more sponsors and I think for a little girl that moved from Australia to literally the middle of nowhere in Northern Ireland to do something like this – not only for herself but for others – and creating a team and opportunities for students, the riders, crew chiefs, engineers; it’s an incredible feat and I’m immensely proud of myself for being the catalyst for that.
“But it couldn’t have been done without the people who also see the vision, and I want so much more out of this for my riders, my team.
“The results have been hard, it’s been against us and the least we can do is tell it how it is, which I think is the one thing we do very well. We are the first to hold our hands up and say that it’s hard work, but equally here’s the craic – it’s been a good time.
“If we land at net zero this year I’ll be really, really pleased with that and I think we will.
"The hardest thing with the championship, which is probably the case with most new products, is that it’s new, so you have to prove value, you have to prove worth and you have to prove that the product you’re selling is valuable to people to invest in it, and that includes fans and brands.”
Patterson has experienced one of the toughest challenges of her life but is hugely proud of her efforts and remains excited by the potential opportunities that lie ahead for her team.
“One thing I can say with absolutely certainty is ‘I did it’ and no one can take that away from me. I think that’s so powerful in itself and I want to be back, I want to do this again and I think I would like to do that with the support of my home field, which is Northern Ireland,” she said.
“I’d love more people to see us and hear us, and know what we’re doing and I think there’s talent here that can be homegrown that we can take, whether that’s into the Women’s World Championship or Supersport 300 or 600, or British Talent Cup,” she added. “There’s so many options for us as a team and I’m working on it.
“Literally this year has been a baptism of fire – it’s been freaking hard – but if anyone can get through the flames it’s probably me.”
The penultimate round of the series takes place at Estoril in Portugal from October 11-13 followed by the final round at Jerez in Spain a week later.