The Dakar Rally opening ceremony is completed – let the race begin! In what can be described as the most scintillating of spectacles in Motorsport, Dakar Rally rider’s, driver’s, co-driver’s, and Teams will embark on the journey of another life-goal experience, starting with Prologue tomorrow – January 4 – followed by the enormous task of completing 12 grueling Stages which stretch from west to east to west across Saudi Arabia’s desert.
If the opening ceremony provides a taste of the competition in categories: Bike, Car, Challenger/T3, SSV/T4, Truck, Quad, Classic, and Mission 1000, the scale and scope of Round 1 of the World Rally Raid Championship 2024 exceeds all expectations on what lies ahead.
With a total of 7,891kms with 4,727kms timed in Special Stages, each and every day will test physical, technical, and mental capabilities of those driven to succeed. Founded by the great Thierry Sabine, the Dakar Rally’s mantra remains as poignant today as it was when the first Dakar started in 1978 – ‘a challenge for those who go. A dream for those who stay behind’.
For women competing in the 46th edition of Dakar, anticipation builds to a crescendo on how each will perform in their respective categories – against male and female counterparts. From Legends of Dakar: Laia Sanz and Camelia Liporati, to debut entries Aliyyah Koloc and Patricia Pita in T1+, Jane Daniels and Yael Kadshai in Bike, Sara Price, Emilija Gelazninkiene, Christine GZ, and Maha Hamali in SSV, along with the all female crew of Anja van Loon, Marije van Ettekoven, and Floor Maten in Truck – the focus will be the same for all – to finish The Dakar at the end of Stage 12.
Most certainly, all women competing in Dakar 2024 possess unprecedented levels of experience, skills, and knowledge accumulated from competing in Off-Road Rallies from countries as far as the America’s, Europe, Africa, and the Emirates. For some, the goal to race Dakar has been a life long dream, turned into reality which now prompts display of performance on route. For others, the challenge to compete in The Dakar has proved a daunting prospect, even when qualification to race has been officially approved.
And, these women are quietly reserved on expressing their emotions on competing in the most grueling, yet fascinating race which has the potential to elevate their Motorsport profiles amongst the elite in the world.
Take for example the 2 only female bike competitors amongst 152 rider’s, who will race at speed, while navigating to reach waypoints – not to mention the 48H CHRONO stage whereby they will have to carry out bike maintenance themselves, after the stroke of 4.00pm. Or, the 19 year old, Aliyyah Koloc who will pitch her young talents against the Legends of Car category, steering the beast of machine over off-cambre sand dunes, at speed, and without tip over’s.
On the other end of the spectrum, women driver line-up of all-female crew Annett Quandt and Annie Seel have formidable accumulation of Dakar experience to compete at pointy end of results in The Challenger category. And they will need it, as the competition from Cristina Gutierrez, Camelia Liporati, Dania Akeel, and Rebecca Busi will be equally fierce from one Stage to the next.
For the Dutch driver Anja van Loon, competing in Dakar Rally 2023 in T3 was merely fore-runner on what was next – pairing with all-female crew of Marije Ettekoven and Floor Maten in Truck category for Dakar 2024.
And therein lies the rub, women competing in Dakar 2024 hold the key to what can be achieved in their respective Motorsport careers – let the 46th edition Dakar race begin!
Header photo: Dakar Rally 2024 opening ceremony The Challenger and SSV competitors Image: ASO.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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