Sandra Gómez Cantero (Cercedilla, Madrid, 1993), bib number 100, is 0.7%: the tiny female quota in the Dakar on motorcycles, representing the only woman among the 134 registered. And the last of the Mohicans is not doing too badly: after the sixth stage (Ha’il-Al Duwadimi, 605 km), which resumed the rally after the rest day, Gómez is 48th overall. That is to say, it surpasses 46 of the 94 two-wheeled survivors.
The only woman of 134 registered
After the sixth stage, Gómez surpasses 46 of the 94 survivors of the two wheels
“For me it is sad to be the only woman on motorcycles in the Dakar…”, comments the Madrid native to The Vanguard in the camp of Ha’il. “Yesterday I saw a video of the first Dakar (1979) where seven girls came out on motorcycles. Seven! I see that Dakar and I think: What’s happening, are we going backwards, or what? Okay, it was an amateur race and they did what they could… Now the Dakar is a professional race and not everyone becomes one, and the girls in the world of motorcycles, even less so.”
He knows it because of what it has cost him to make his way as a professional. She started in trials, in which she was world runner-up (2016-17), after growing up in the shadow of the absolute dominator Laia Sanz – with whom she won six Trials of Nations; she switched to enduro (bronze at the 2013 , mud… in which she was the first woman to finish the Romaniacs, the wildest race in the world.
“You have no choice but to come to the Dakar because it is where you are really seen, but do you like to risk your neck every day? Well man…”
“Does all this open doors for me? It’s been three years since I came to the Dakar [en su debut, en el 2022, fue 62.ª de la general] and I have not seen anything exceptional open to me either. Let’s see if any brand of creams listens to me now, my face is burned…”, claims the Madrid pilot, laughing, with her face dry from the sun and the wind, who feels “the responsibility of championing the rest of the women.” the motorcycles.
“But it doesn’t put pressure on me because when I put on the helmet I forget everything: the only difference is that I run out to pee and they just turn around… We’ve had it like that and that’s it,” the victimhood rejects. Spanish.
Sandra Gómez, with her Fantic motorcycle, in the Dakar 2025 bivouac
Sandra Gómez’s relationship with the Dakar is peculiar: she is a professional off road –he has had three FIM licenses at the same time, for trials, enduro and rally-raids–, who seeks a life with motorcycles (he has acted as a specialist in the filming of the series The home d and paper and Sky Red ), heads the women’s commission of the Spanish Motorcycle Federation, competes in hard enduro… but the Dakar is her media showcase.
“I like to run it, but you have no choice but to come if you have the chance, because it is where you are really seen. But do you like risking your neck every day for two weeks? Well man… A little is the price I have to pay to continue competing all year long. I would love to be able to dedicate myself to just one thing,” explains Gómez, who after missing the 2024 Dakar due to lack of budget received an offer from Fantic in August to replace the pregnant British Jane Daniels.
“The only difference is that I run out to pee and they just turn around,” Gómez claims equality in the competition.
“I got on the bike for the first and only time at the Moroccan rally (October). That’s why I started the first week softly, calmly. I try to get into a rhythm and go with the same group, with the Chilean from my team Tomás de Gavardo. My pace is going well, the leader is taking me an hour and a half [por etapa]. Alright. You have to be consistent: I haven’t taken a rally bike all year.”
So he doesn’t care if some rivals get upset. “There are drivers who don’t like being overtaken by a woman. Three days ago I overtook it three times. Let’s see: if we are in rocks and I’m doing better, stay behind and you’ll shoot later… Because you’re a girl, they hurt you a little.” His aspiration in this his third Dakar, in addition to finishing it, is “to do well: I was 48th in the 5th stage, 46th now, and I am 48th overall… But basically in a race “so long, the goal is to finish it all, the bike and me,” Sandra longs.
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