Women experience all 2023 Dakar Rally offers from moments of joy, to depths of despair and all in between. On the 6th Day of competing in the world’s most grueling race, Women deal with all emotions to push their physical capabilities to the max while simultaneously remaining focused on task ahead amid myriad of changes which affect performance.
Such a hard bind to juggle. Knowing what it takes to even line-up to race Dakar, these Women bank on being able to cope in ever changing situations from weather, to mechanical break-downs, to loss of time, to battling fatigue while pushing mental ability to remain upbeat to race the next Stage.
For sure, all women have experienced the hard knocks of racing, and have ingrained sense of determination to beat the odds that racing Dakar pushes each and every competitor to their limits, both mentally and physically. And 2023 Dakar has done just that.
In bike category, Mirjam Pol wondered if 2023 Dakar Rally was going to be more about survival than actual enjoyment of racing and surfing the dunes after experiencing the arduous task of riding over rocks in Stages 1 and 2. Well, Mirjam experienced real enjoyment in Stages 5 and 6, far more at home riding her bike in Saudi’s mountains of sand, to complete Stage 6 in P56.
Not so for Spanish rider Sandra Gomez. After finding her rhythm in Stages 1-5, today’s mechanical problem prevented Sandra to fulfil her desire and potential to reach higher order of standings, which will have to be wait and see approach whether Sandra will be able to compete at same level of participation.
Hold on to goals Kirsten Landman! Facing the daunting challenge of competing in Malle Moto category, the South African rider shares how hard this race really is, not only affecting her physical capabilities of racing with no assistance before, during and after each Stage, but also impacting her mind-set to remain as positive as ever to get to the finish of each and every day.
Currently standing P79 in Bike General classification, and P12 in Original by Motul, Kirsten will welcome some reprieve as the organizers have decided that due to ‘weather and tiredness of rider’s, Dakar organizers have decided to cancel the special for stage seven between Riyadh and Al Duwadimi. The bikes and quads will therefore be invited to leave the bivouac in Riyadh from 10 AM tomorrow morning and take the road section to Al Duwadimi. On Sunday 8th January, they will then contest stage 8 as rescheduled’.
For rider’s enduring early morning starts, with alarms going off at around 2.50am, driver’s in Car category have different set of problems – either staying safe when Laia Sanz’s car rolled 5x in Stage 5, to having to fix same mechanical problem in every Stage, as in the case for Monica and Manuel Plaza.
With Laia finishing Stage 6 in P40, and still waiting for results on Monica, T3 driver’s have defied odds to be beaten even when their vehicle was towed back to bivouac after break-down in Stage 5, as was the case for X Raid driver Camelia Liparoti.
The Dakar Rally Legend has amassed so much knowledge, experience, and sense of what it takes to complete Dakar 14x, even Camelia’s strength of character has been tested to rise above disappointment to race the next Stage.
Retaining T3 Overall standing of P5, Cristina Gutierrez admits, frustration has peaked during Stage 6 due to car problems, as @cris-tortu explains: ‘Tough day, car still having power loss issues. We have not yet been able to pinpoint the causes of the failure, but we suspect it is some electronics-related defect. Hitting hard, emotionally frustrated. I don’t feel competitive about the loss of power and even with difficulty we can defend ourselves from T4 vehicles. The Dakar Rally is long, but if we don’t solve this problem it’s difficult to achieve optimal results’.
On other end of the spectrum, Saudi driver Dania Akeel, X Raid pair of Annett Fischer and Annie Seel, and rookie driver Anja van Loon are pleased with their performance finishing Stage 6 in P11, P19, and P20 respectively. Brazilian driver Pamela Bozzano recovered from what she described as thoughts of giving up due to break-down in Stage 5, completed the next day in P29, with Buggyra Racing driver Aliyyah Koloc in P26 and Patricia Pita Gago rounding out the women in P41.
T4 category hails Australia Molly Taylor at the top of her game, full of positivity, verve, and tenacity to get the job done. With co-driver Andrew Short navigating the route beside her, the pair ended Day 6 in P14, and rookie pair of Rebecca Busi and co-driver Giulia Maroni completing the Stage in P39.
2023 Dakar Rally Stage 7 Riyadh to Al Duwadimi total distance: 861kms with 333kms timed. Header photo: Camelia Liparoti competing in 2023 Dakar Rally Stage 4 Image: X Raid.
Words: Sharon Cox.
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