“I have experienced this situation before and I have come out of it,” says Laia Sanz, who is facing her 14th edition of the Dakar as a leader of a 100% female team. In the previous thirteen races she has always seen the checkered flag of the French race. Even in the 2023 event, when she lost seven hours due to a breakdown in the second stage and she suffered a spectacular rollover – with five rollovers included – which almost cost her abandonment. She is the only Spaniard who has managed to finish 11 participations in motorcycles and two more in cars. “In difficult times I have overcome myself and I trust that now too,” the pilot hopes. Her goal is to “get back to enjoying herself after a very frustrating Dakar,” at a time when she only has one year of contract with the Astara Team. “I am in a moment of transition in which I have to demonstrate,” she acknowledges. Her difficulties have never scared her.
“I had the feeling of going against the flow the entire race. We had pace, but we couldn't show it. It went awry for us,” says Sanz when asked about the previous Dakar Rally event. He finished in position number 65 overall, but although he assures that this year he wants to have fun, he does not lose one bit of self-demand: “being number 40 would not be good either. If it goes well, I would like to be among the top 15 in each stage,” he acknowledges in a meeting with the press. After two editions by car, the Trial and Enduro world champion still feels like a rookie. “I go from Dakar to Dakar and that influences, but the Extreme-E experience has helped me,” says Sanz.
The best female motorcycle rider in the entire history of the Dakar – she was 9th in 2015 – has not been able to prepare as much as some of her rivals. Even so, she has participated in the Baja Aragón race and was runner-up in the Extreme-E World Championship. “In an ideal world it is not enough, but in mine it is,” she confides. “I dont complain. I would spend the year doing races, but, at the moment, it is not possible,” she concluded.
“This is a Dakar. You have to lose yourself and you should still do it more”
Laia Sanz will once again be accompanied by Maurizio Gerini as co-driver, in a race in which a new route is being launched and in which she will have more resources and a renewed team. The dunes will be more important than ever, but the pilot believes that navigation is no longer as complicated as it once was. “The new generation complains a lot when there are very difficult days. So, they always find the compromise that one day someone will be lost, but not too much,” she said. Although she expects a very tough date, Astara's guide is in favor of increasing the difficulty of the test. “This is not a World Rally Car, this is a Dakar. You have to get lost and you should still do it more,” she said flatly.
Although she misses “the family atmosphere of the motorcycle world,” to which she is still linked in her training and free time, she is grateful for not taking so many risks. “My co-pilot and I sometimes comment on how lazy we would feel doing the stages with a lot of stones or rain on a motorcycle,” she commented with a laugh. There are many memories that she keeps from the 11 editions of her on two wheels through the desert. In some, like now, she also felt that his worth was being tested. “I remember that in my best Dakar with Honda, my contract ended right after. “If I had gone home on the second day, I wouldn't be where I am now,” she noted. A few days after embarking on a new journey through Saudi Arabia, to have fun again and demonstrate her talent, Laia Sanz has left one last message: “enjoying also means suffering.” She wants to pass the exam with flying colors. Abandonment is not in her dictionary.
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