Sonia Lloyd

Sonya Lloyd is an American motorcycle racer who came to the sport later than most, discovering flat track at seventeen before transitioning to road racing and eventually earning a full-time ride in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship—all while graduating with a degree in biological engineering and landing a gig at Siemens.

EARLY YEARS

Born April 10, 2002, in Columbus, Georgia, Sonya Lloyd grew up in the American Flat Track paddock—not as a rider, but as part of the crew. Her father, David Lloyd, alongside her uncle Michael, runs Lloyd Brothers Motorsports, a flat track team with more than 25 years in the game. She spent her early years working on their race teams, absorbing the culture, the mechanics, and the grit of professional racing from the inside out. But for a long time, she wasn’t the one twisting the throttle.

Instead, Lloyd was a soccer player and competitive cheerleader. It wasn’t until she was seventeen—an age when most racers have already logged thousands of laps—that she finally swung a leg over a bike and tried flat track herself. She fell hard for it. Three years later, at twenty, she made the jump to road racing, diving into a discipline that demanded an entirely different skill set and mindset.

OTHER INTERESTS

While building her racing career, Lloyd was simultaneously grinding through a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia, which she completed in May 2024. Fresh off graduation, she didn’t take a breather—she went straight into preseason training and competition prep. Now, she works full-time as a technical consultant for Siemens Digital Industries, a role that’s more general engineering than bioengineering but still feeds her passion for motorsport technology and data analysis. It’s a balancing act that would break most people, but Lloyd seems to thrive on the challenge of managing a professional racing career, a demanding job, and the logistical chaos that comes with both.

EARLY SUCCESS

Lloyd’s early racing résumé includes a standout moment in flat track: she became both the youngest racer and the first woman invited to compete in the 1950s Indian Cup. She also participated in winter training sessions at Buckeye Lake in Ohio, riding alongside established names like Larry Pegram and other notable flat trackers. Her transition to road racing brought her into the Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. program, a unique initiative designed to develop emerging talent, before she moved up to the MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship.

In 2024, Lloyd rode a Yamaha YZF-R7 for Giaccmoto Racing in the Twins Cup series, holding her own in a competitive field. That same year, she received an invitation to compete as a wildcard entry in the final round of the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship at Jerez, Spain—her first taste of international road racing competition. The experience was enough to convince her, and the right people, that she belonged on that stage full-time.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2024: Made her international debut as a wildcard entry in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship at Jerez, Spain[1].
• 2024: Competed in the MotoAmerica BellissiMoto Twins Cup Championship riding a Yamaha YZF-R7 for Giaccmoto Racing[2].
• 2024: Graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering[3].
• 2024: Featured in the documentary “TOP TEN” by Led Bull Studios, chronicling her race weekend at Road America where she achieved one of her best finishes[4].
• 2025: Signed with Team Trasimeno to compete in the full FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship season with factory support from Yamaha USA[5].

INSPIRATIONS

Lloyd counts several flat track legends among her racing idols, including Sammy Halbert, who once debuted Lloyd Brothers Motorsports’ Ducati 1100. But her biggest inspiration is closer to home: her father, David Lloyd. Growing up watching him lead the family racing operation taught her not just how to wrench on bikes, but how to approach the sport with professionalism, resilience, and respect for the craft. She’s candid about the fact that her late start means she’s still learning—and that she’s fine with that. “I’ll keep learning until I start winning,” she’s said, a mindset that’s equal parts humble and hungry.

REPUTATION

Lloyd is known in the paddock as someone who works harder than most—because she has to. She didn’t grow up racing karts at five or doing track days at ten. She came in late, caught up fast, and continues to chip away at the experience gap with sheer determination and a willingness to be coached. Her technical background gives her an edge when it comes to data analysis and bike setup, and she’s vocal about her passion for the intersection of motorsport and technology. She’s also earning a reputation as someone who doesn’t complain about the grind. Between racing internationally, working full-time, and managing sponsorships and logistics, Lloyd is essentially running a small business while also trying to shave tenths off her lap times.

Her involvement in the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship—a groundbreaking series designed to provide female racers with global opportunities and a platform to compete at the highest level—has positioned her as part of a pivotal moment in women’s motorsport. She’s not just racing; she’s part of a movement to normalize women on the world stage in motorcycle road racing, and she takes that responsibility seriously.

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

For 2025, Lloyd’s primary goal was straightforward: finish consistently in the points and keep improving round by round. She raced the full WorldWCR season on a Yamaha YZF-R7 for Team Trasimeno, with South African teammate Jessica Howden. The two trained together in the preseason, building chemistry and sharpening their race craft ahead of the calendar’s demanding schedule. Looking ahead to 2026, Lloyd is already preparing her program, studying the provisional calendar—which includes the return of two iconic circuits from the inaugural WorldWCR season—and planning how to leverage her engineering background and love of data to keep climbing the grid. Her mantra remains simple: keep learning, keep pushing, and eventually, start winning.

REFERENCES

[1] About – Sonya Lloyd Racing
[2] WorldWCR: Woman and Rider – Sonya Lloyd – Roadracing World
[3] Sonya Lloyd Herd Collection – Bison Track
[4] Cycle Cinema: Led Bull Studios’ Documentary Selected for Screening – MotoAmerica
[5] Sonya Lloyd Signs With Team Trasimeno For 2025 FIM WorldWCR – MotoAmerica
[6] I, Woman and Rider: Lloyd on a Late Start to Racing and Studying While Competing – WorldSBK
[7] I’ll Keep Learning Until I Start Winning – Paddock Sorority
[8] David & Sonya Lloyd’s 1968 Honda CB350 “68” – Revival Cycles