Annabelle McCarthy

Annabelle McCarthy — race number 113 — is a motorcycle racer from the British Minibike and junior road racing scene, and the first Purple Helmet ambassador to do her racing on two wheels.

She's been pointing bikes at apexes since 2021, when she started out on a Minimoto against fields of up to 25 riders and made a habit of finishing in the top ten. By 2023 she'd stepped up to a 50cc 6-speed machine and ended the season as one of the top three fastest females in the UK in her class — in a sport that doesn't hand girls anything for free.

2024 was the year things got serious: the British Minibike Championships in the FIM MiniGP UK 190cc class, the Extreme 200 class in FAB-Racing (the official partner series of British Superbikes), and an invitation to the Freetech Junior Talent Cup — where she was handed a bike she'd never ridden, in proper British rain, and brought it home fourth. Her first taste of endurance racing followed: fastest lap of her three-rider team in a six-hour race, helping them to second in the mixed category.

Then came 2025. Third overall in the British Minibike Championships MGP17 class. Fifth in FIM MiniGP 190. Fourth in the Freetech Junior Talent Cup. And Team Endurance Champion — with multiple outright wins in 4, 6 and 8-hour races at Freetech and NBS Endurance, where she was consistently the fastest rider in her team. She closed the season with a successful first outing on a full-size circuit: Donington Park, on a Kawasaki Ninja 400.

That Ninja is the future — she's now racing in the Team Green Junior Championships with Bemsee, the British Motorcycle Racing Club, while still collecting Junior Talent Cup podiums along the way.

Two wheels, no fear, and a race number you'll be seeing a lot more of. Exactly the kind of racer Purple Helmet was built for.

You can follow my journey:

Facebook: Annabelle McCarthy Racing
Instagram: @annabellemccarthyracing113