Both World Supersport and TVS motors welcome new leadership appointments as Norton Motorcycles and parent company TVS Motor Company announced that they’re pleased to welcome a new Chairman of TVS’ Board of Directors as of January 2023. While As of March 2021, Ana Carrasco’s former aide Carla Grau Pi will be Provec Racing’s team manager.
Sir Ralph Speth
Norton Motorcycles and parent company TVS Motor Company announced that they’re pleased to welcome a new Chairman of TVS’ Board of Directors as of January 2023. His name is Sir Ralf Speth, and he’ll bring decades of auto industry experience to his new appointment.
Speth has a strong engineering background, which helped him lead Jaguar Land Rover for 11 years as its CEO. Under his leadership, the company brought the Jaguar I-PACE all-electric performance SUV from an idea into a fully engineered and designed reality.
Prior to his work with Jaguar Land Rover, Sir Ralf spent time with Ford Motor Company’s Premier Automotive Group, as well as BMW, which is where he first began his career. He has also served on the Tata Motors Board, as well as the Supervisory Board of Tata Sons Limited.
Thanks to his outstanding leadership skills and service to science, Sir Ralf has been recognized in multiple ways. According to his Royal Society biography, he has so far been twice honored by the British Empire for his services. In 2015, Sir Ralf was appointed Honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire. Just four years later, in 2019, he was made an Additional Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. He has also been a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2014 and is also a professor at the University of Warwick.
This appointment comes as Norton Motorcycles, which is wholly owned by TVS Motor Company, continues construction on its new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Solihull. It is currently scheduled to open by the end of Q2 of 2021, and will form the central base from which all Norton Motorcycles operations occur.
“We are truly delighted to welcome Sir Ralf to the TVS Motor Company family,” said Norton Motorcycles interim CEO John Russell, in a statement.
“We know that Sir Ralf is a tremendous leader and his accomplishments in the automotive industry speak volumes. This excellent appointment comes at a time when the Norton Motorcycles business is on a very positive trajectory, but still with much work to do. We will soon be settled in our state-of-the-art new manufacturing base and the guidance of Sir Ralf will be important for us as a growing British business that has a strong legacy,” he concluded.
Carla Grau Pi
In February 2021, we first heard the great news that World Supersport champ Ana Carrasco was cleared to get back on the bike after a spinal injury in 2020. Throughout this entire process, though, Carrasco hasn’t been alone. As of March 2021, her former aid Carla Grau Pi will be Provec Racing’s team manager.
As Provec Racing WSSP300’s team manager, Carla Grau Pi is currently the only female team manager in the World Superbike paddock. She herself has been riding motorcycles since she was five years of age, in addition to being a former Spanish champion Alpine skier and ski instructor. Originally from Bellaterra, Spain, Grau Pi is working toward completion of a Sports Management course at Ramon Llull University in Barcelona. At just 22 years of age, Grau Pi represents the future-facing nature of the World Supersport 300 series.
“I am very happy with this opportunity that Provec Racing and Kawasaki are giving me and to continue being part of this project for the coming year. The team is back after not being able to complete 2020 due to Ana’s injury, and we are eager and excited to be able to help her as much as possible to achieve good results in 2021,” Grau Pi said in a statement.
“I am delighted to continue working and learning from this group of professionals who have so much experience in the WorldSBK Championship, and we are all looking forward to the start of the season,” she concluded.
“Carla is eager to learn and she has so much experience to call on inside the pitbox and also amongst all the Provec staff,” Provec KRT World Superbike team manager Guim Roda said in a statement.
“Of course, our goal is to regain the WWSP300 title with Ana Carrasco, and the whole Provec structure is focused on this. We wish Carla success and hope this appointment will be seen as another positive step for women in the WorldSBK paddock,” he concluded.
He’s not the only one, and we look forward to seeing one of our favorite motorsport series continue its excitement and growth in the coming seasons and wish Carla all the best with her new leadership role.
~And as always…
~Live Free Ride Hard~
~AMERiders
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