The dawning of a new era with Cristina Gutierrez and Aliyyah Koloc racing Rally du Maroc in T1+ category. The only 2 females to compete in the premier class against 27 entrants breaks historical ground on women pitching their skills in the pinnacle of rallying to a global audience.
As a precursor Rally to the inaugural Dakar Rally on January 3 – 17, 2025, both women will be utilizing all opportunities to refine their race-craft skills over the 5 Stages, plus Prologue of Rally du Maroc. With a total of 2,468kms to navigate with co-driver’s Pablo Moreno and Sebastien Delaunay respectively, Cristina will maximize her racing potential with new Team and new car – Dacia – and Aliyyah will do the same behind the wheel of Buggyra Racing’s Red Lined REVO T1+ vehicle.
As Cristina states: “‘It will be our first race with the Sandrider after a long series of tests and I’m very excited. It will also be my first race in a new category as I jump from the Challenger to the Ultimate class. A lot of new things are coming as it’s a new car, new category and new team but I already feel very comfortable with The Dacia Sandriders and I hope we can confirm the work done during the tests on Rallye du Maroc. I have some pressure but it’s a positive pressure, the type that makes you give the best of yourself. Of course, it will be a race of preparation for Dakar, but I hope we can achieve a good result and have fun.”
For Aliyyah, racing W2Rc Final Round in Morocco will be a fresh start behind the wheel having had surgery and time off to recover over the summer. Aliyyah: “‘It has been a long break which I needed to recuperate. But now I am ready and impatient to get back behind the wheel again. I am looking forward to racing with my father! He’s done two rallies in Hungary and Poland over the summer, but I couldn’t race at the time. So, in Morocco I will try to beat his times though he has the quicker car.'”
Most certainly, these 2 women have smashed glass ceilings on the status of females competing on a level playing field in Motorsport. Cristina has faced and overcome insurmountable challenges to transcend the ranks in her racing career – becoming the first female to win The Dakar Rally T3 Challenger category in 2024. Aliyyah has achieved first female recognition for racing multi-disciplines – competing in European Truck Championship, Endurance and Circuit Series, 24H GT4 Series, and Rally- Raid Championship including The Dakar Rally 2x.
With Rally du Maroc providing all competitors, Teams, and crews an opportunity to achieve winning results over 6 days, Cristina and Aliyyah have all capabilities of matching their opponents racing high performance vehicles from Marrakech to Mengoub Bouarfa on October 4 – 11.
Rally du Maroc Stages 1 – 5 plus Prologue on October 4 – 11. Header photo: Cristina Gutierrez and Aliyyah Koloc credit: Red Bull Racing and Buggrya Racing.
Words: Sharon Cox.
Comments are closed.