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Sandra Vílchez López grew up in a motorcycle household, found her way into the MotoGP paddock through sheer persistence, and has built a career there as one of the sport’s most recognizable team coordinators — on the operations side of the pit lane rather than the racing side, but no less embedded in it.

EARLY YEARS

Born in Girona, Spain, in 1987, Sandra spent her childhood around motorcycles, scooters, and motor racing — a natural consequence of growing up with a father who was genuinely passionate about motors [1]. She has been clear about where the obsession started: “It’s my father’s fault that I love motorcycles. He is a motorhead and I have always watched every type of two or four-wheeled competition with him.” [1] He also gave her a piece of practical advice that she carried into her working life: that she was entering a male-dominated environment, and she would need to earn respect [1].

That advice landed. The pull toward the MotoGP paddock was not casual interest — it kept her up at night. “I wanted to become part of this environment so much that I couldn’t sleep at night thinking about how I was going to do it,” she said [1]. She acted on it by repeatedly approaching teams and asking for a job until one said yes.

INSPIRATIONS

Sandra has credited her father directly and specifically with shaping her relationship with motorsport [1]. His enthusiasm for two- and four-wheeled competition gave her early access to a world she would eventually work in professionally, and his counsel about earning respect in a male-dominated field framed how she approached that entry [1].

REPUTATION

Sandra joined Aspar’s hospitality operation in 2008 — her first foothold in the MotoGP paddock — and worked her way through the paddock structure over the following decade [1]. In 2018 she moved to Gresini Racing, where she took on a coordination role covering team operations, travel, logistics, and guest arrangements across MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3, MotoE, and Italian championship events [2]. The Gresini Racing company page lists her as Team and Guest Coordinator [3].

MotoGP.com featured her in its 2022 coverage celebrating women working in the championship — recognition that placed her among the women who have made the paddock’s professional infrastructure their domain [4]. The Europa Press also covered her in June 2020, noting the growing presence of women in the pit lane [2].

References:

[1] MotoGP.com, June 4, 2020
[2] Europa Press, June 8, 2020
[3] Gresini Racing — Company
[4] MotoGP.com, March 7, 2022