Sara Garcia is ready to race Dakar Rally 2021 Original by Motul category starting on January 3rd to 15th in Saudi Arabia. Having become first female to complete the ‘Unassisted’ class in 2020, Sara steps up again to tackle the most arduous world Rally under Pont Grup Yamaha.
For sure, raising the necessary funding to compete in The Dakar during most extreme year of turbulent economy within Motorsport industry has been difficult, yet luckily successful. Sara and partner Javier made commitment to race their 3rd consecutive Dakar, having banked greater amount of experience, knowledge and foresight on what this gnarly race takes to complete.
Facts: 1) one trunk for survival with all necessary items to race, eat, sleep over 13 days. Transported by organizers by truck from one bivouac to the next. 2) tools packed in trunk for bike maintenance during 12 Stages of racing, and at end of each day at bivouacs. 3) Road-book on paper this year, with warning signals of impending incidents set at 2 alert levels. 4) Rest day at half-way point on Rally means NO rest day for Original by Motul riders. Bike maintenance is priority. 5) Showers- not that often. 6) make it to the finish!
2021 Dakar Rally route will take reverse course from 2020 race, starting at Jeddah then heading inland. Half-way point after Stage 6 will be at city of Ha’il before tracking north, then west to race final legs down coastline of the Red Sea finishing back at Jeddah. Total kms covered will be 7,600kms with 4,700kms timed in Special Stages.
From what Sara envisages, the route will encompass greater technical ability of riders, lower speed limits, challenging for everyone yet with bonus of having experienced types of Saudi terrain in 2020. And, does the only female racing Original by Motul class wonder if The Dakar Rally provides level playing field for women to enter and race?
Apart from biological differences of body strength, Sara believes racing Dakar Rally remains the most mentally challenging race ever. Being a female, there are many advantages that enable Sara to tackle the race- ability to think clearly when things go wrong, ability to make decisions on the fly, ability to combine racing at speed with navigation, ability to remain calm when struggles loom large and ability to tick one goal off at a time til the end.
MXLink Live spoke with Sara on above preparations for racing Dakar Rally, her thoughts on what lies ahead, along with appreciating Sara’s determination to race the most challenging Rally over full course of 13 days.
Live Chat below. Special thanks to Sara for her time.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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