FEATURE
MOTOAMERICA'S SHELINA MOREDA
P84
directly at me. It was an amazing moment.
I took more selfies with people than ever
taken in my life! "Supa Sta! Super Sta!"
they kept calling me. It quickly became my
favorite English saying.
The reactions, and the divide between
them, escalated when I made the podium
in third place.
T H E Y I N G A N D Y A N G O F R A C I N G
I never knew which reaction to expect.
I'd smile at one passer-by in the pits and
he would gleam shaking his hands and
congratulating me in the most abso-
lutely genuine vibe you could ever ask for.
Those reactions built me up. They made
me so stoked and proud to be there, and
want to make each of those comrades
proud. I'd smile even bigger, and feel like I
was walking on a cloud each time.
Reality hit when I'd walk past the other
type. I'd have my big smile, hoping for a
thumbs up, and instead I'd get the stare of
death. A man saying to me through his eyes
that I am not welcome here, that I ought to
know better, and that I should be absolutely
ashamed of what I was there to do. These
men fueled my fire through the weekend as
well as the ones with the beaming smiles.
These were the feathers I was meant to
ruffle. I especially wanted these men to see
what we were accomplishing.
"The reactions, and the divide between them,
escalated when I made the podium in third place."
The field was
stacked, with
Shelina having
to compete
against riders
the caliber of
ex-WorldSBK
star, Mark
Aitchison.
