Overview of women racing The Dakar Rally 2025 in Bike, Car, The Challenger/T3, and SSV/T4 categories. These ground breaking women enter Dakar’s 47th edition in Saudi Arabia with their respective Teams, co-driver’s, and personal to complete the most physically demanding race over 8,000kms with 5,000kms against the clock.
The mammoth task ahead starts with Prologue on January 3 followed by Stages 1 – 5 on January 4 – 9, Rest Day is on January 10 at Hail with the second week of racing Stages 6 – 12 on January 11 – 17, finishing The Dakar Rally 2025 at Shubaytah. The formidable 48H CHRONO section will test all competitors early in Stages 2a and 2b with the Marathon Stage and the endless mountains of dunes in the Empty Quarter in week 2. Additional challenges will be racing 48% of Specials on separate courses for two and four wheel vehicles, making tracking lines that much harder as well as finding the ever-illusive way-point markers.
So, who are these history making women racing such an iconic race which demands so much physical endurance, mental tenacity, and technical expertise? And, how will these women compete against an equally competitive field of rider’s, driver’s, co-driver’s, and Teams whose main objective is to produce the best possible performance on two and four wheels to finish on the top step of the podium in the world’s longest race?
Starting with sole female rider from 135 entries in Bike category – Sandra Gomez – racing her 3rd Dakar with Fantic Racing Rally Team. No introductions are needed as Sandra’s profile retains the highest following having become the first female to finish Red Bull Romaniacs in Gold Class in 2019. Definitely, Sandra’s ability to transition from Hard Enduro to Rally-Raid commands the utmost respect, with Sandra seeking to out-race many of her male competitors to better her results of 40th in 2022, and an unfortunate retirement in Dakar 2023.
In Car category, 3 women will compete against Rally Raid’s alumni bringing their own talents, credentials, and expertise behind the wheel in T1+ and T1.2 categories. Spanish driver – Cristina Gutierrez – makes the transition from winning Dakar Rally Challenger in 2024 to race with Dacia Sandrider’s in T1+. Most certainly, Cristina’s hard won achievements has been a never-ending-desire to deliver pointy end results a reality, making her 9th consecutive Dakar one to watch. Buggyra ZM Racing driver Aliyyah Koloc holds equal amounts of determination, racing her 2nd Dakar in T1+ having made her debut entry in The Challenger in 2023. Paired with co-driver Sebastien Delaunay, Aliyyah will undoubtedly deliver her supreme talent of racing cross-disciplines, especially showcasing her skills and love of racing in the dunes of Saudi’s desert.
Film: Women racing The Dakar rally 2025 – the route credit: MXLink
With an astounding record of completing 14 Dakar Rally’s, Laia Sanz sets unprecedented bench-mark on what the Spanish rider and driver has achieved in her racing career. Completing 11 successful, consecutive Dakar’s in Bike category, before switching to Car in 2022, Laia and 4th time co-driver – Maurizio Gerini – hail the all mighty actions of achieving long-term progression racing the infamous Dakar aiming for a top finish in their classification in 2025.
In The Challenger category, 4 women driver’s will compete within the 53 T3 entries, with pairing of X-Raid Team’s Annett Quandt and co-driver Annie Seel racing as the only female duo. Both Annett and Annie hold a wealth of experience, knowledge, and race-craft with Annett competing in Rally from 2009 and Annie accumulating records galore from racing on two-wheels to four, coupled with an Award for ”2003: First woman to ride a motorcycle at 5305m on Mt Everest north side on a Honda XL250-1982”.
Film: Women racing The Dakar Rally in The Challenger category credit: MXLink
The competition in T3 will be tough, as Saudi native Dania Akeel seeks a top performance with co-driver Stephane Duple and Team BBR. Coming off the back of winning FIA Middle East Baja Championship 2024 recently, Dania will spearhead the charge for repeated success in Dakar Rally 2025. X-Raid Team driver Maria Gameiro will put all race experience to use having completed Dubai International Baja 2024, along with South Africa/Netherland’s driver – Puck Klaassen who enters T3 for the first time, having raced Dakar Rally 2024 in Classic classification.
If the power of the mind is up-front-and-personal for driver’s racing The Dakar Rally SSV category, then America’s Sara Price and Italian Rebecca Busi are set to push all odds for the win amongst the 38 entries in T3. Sara has already lifted the lid on what she is capable of behind the wheel, taking a Dakar Rally Stage win in 2024 and finishing P4 overall. Rebecca has equal amounts of fierce determination, training in the sands of Argentina, while making a calculated decision to race with South Racing Can-Am for Dakar 2025. Both women expect to race the 47th edition of The Dakar Rally with heart, soul, and courage – undoubtedly, a recipe for success.
Header photo: Image Puck Klaassen.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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