Women making history racing The Dakar Rally in Car category. These three women have climbed the ladder of Motorsport through their remarkable abilities to push beyond their known skills to compete in bike and behind the wheel in the most physically and mentally demanding of sports. Each female has made definitive decisions to achieve progression in their respective career pathways, thereby extending their reach on what they can achieve in disciplines at World Championship level.
Taken in context, these women – Cristina Gutierrez, Laia Sanz, and Aliyyah Koloc have redefined the meaning of success, producing quantitative results which has propelled their respective racing careers to new heights from one season to the next. Neither undeterred by set-backs along the way, nor uncomfortable about making changes on which event to race – with who, and when – Cristina, Laia, and Aliyyah have broken boundaries to elevate their racing status.
Starting with Spanish driver – Cristina Gutierrez. Most notably, Cristina’s ultimate victory of winning The Challenger/T3 category in The Dakar Rally 2024 commands utmost respect and accolades along with celebratory status in Dakar’s and Motorsport history books. And, so to does Cristina’s relentless spirit to endure the overwhelming odds of funding her racing seasons, overcoming racing incidents which ruined podium finishes, along with pushing through painful injuries to complete a race – as was the case when racing Kazakhstan Rally in 2021 – to claim victory, before being diagnosed with two fractured vertebrae.
Most certainly, Cristina’s mental tenacity has been pivotal for producing winning results backed by self discipline to make decisions conducive for sustaining upward trajectory of her career. When the opportunity to race the all-electric Extreme E Series appeared in 2021, Cristina grabbed the chance to learn new skills along-side WRC 9x Champion – Sebastien Loeb – taking P2 in the first season, and winning in 2022. Fittingly, Cristina entered her 5th Dakar the same year, becoming the first woman to win a Stage since Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2005, and then took overall victory in The Challenger this year, with co-driver – Pablo Moreno. Cristina enters a new era, racing for Dacia in the Car Ultimate T1+ category with Moreno in The Dakar Rally, 2025.
Fellow Spanish compatriot – Laia Sanz – holds an equally impressive array of career achievements starting with completing 11 consecutive Dakar Rally’s in Bike category from 2011 to 2021, before making the transition to racing Dakar in Car classification in 2022 to the present day. Taking the top female award in all 11 Dakar’s in bike category, Laia extended her reach of technical ability on two wheels which had been founded on competing in Women’s Trial World Championships – claiming 14 Titles.
The sheer magnitude of Laia’s resourcefulness to utilize her experiences, knowledge, and skills of racing Trials GP and The Dakar to enter the realm of competing as a driver can not be under estimated on how she has managed to action the transition and achieve success. For certain, Laia was under no illusions that the transition would bring challenges, yet as she explains – that is what I live for – ”to get outside my comfort zone and learn new skills”. Adding to the mix-up of racing cross disciplines, Laia entered the all-electric Series – Extreme E in 2021 with Acciona Sanz XE Team – climbing in ranks to P2 overall in 2023 and 2024. Laia enters The Dakar Rally 2025 with Astara Team and co-driver – Maurizio Gerini – for the fourth consecutive year.
Buggyra Racing driver – Aliyyah Koloc – has already clocked up an impressive record of accomplishments at 20 years of age. The Czech-Emirati-Seychelle female capitulated her career competing in The European Truck Racing Championships before embarking on entry in 24H GT Series and The Dakar Rally in 2023 to the present day. For Aliyyah, the challenge of racing varying disciplines has been a learning curve in itself, yet the pay-off in perfecting race-craft in circuit racing to Rally has been beneficial for her overall growth as a driver and person.
Undeniably, the upwards ascent of Aliyyah’s capabilities as a driver was put to the supreme test racing The Dakar Rally in The Challenger/T3 category in 2023 – a precursor to competing in the world’s most iconic race in the Car Ultimate T1+ category in 2024. Such a bold step forwards required a massive amount of preparation to ensure Aliyyah and co-driver – Sebastien Delaunay – would have all necessary abilities to steer the team’s REVO T1+ car over 14 days of racing – building the levels of excitement as the start date closes in.
All three women represent ground-breaking determination to fulfills goals within their respective racing careers through open minded awareness that competing outside one discipline has the capacity to broaden their own skill-base for future racing. All three women shed light on how to action such principle of thought which for all intent and purposes elevates their own profiles amongst the greatest women competing in Motorsport Championships – worldwide.
Header photo: Image Florent Gooden Graphics: MXLink
Words: Sharon Cox.
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