Labuscagne shifting her way to the top one gear at a time
Cross-country navigator set to make history as first SA woman to compete in Sealine Rally
THE desert plains of Qatar are known to be some of the most inhospitable in existence. With temperatures soaring to 50 degrees, winds that shift the sun-baked dunes and scarce indication of life, heat and sand are the only constants.
It’s in these extreme conditions that Sandra Labuscagne will make history, when she becomes the first South African woman to compete in the Sealine Cross-Country Rally.
Unlike other rallies, cross-country events must be longer than 1 300 kilometres and can last up to eight days. As the third leg of the 2016 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, the Sealine sits at the apex of this category of event.
Last year, Labuscagne, 29, was selected to compete in the race, along with eight other navigators and nine drivers, after answering a call for applications by the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission.
In November, the group attended a rigorous three-day fitness, navigation and driving training camp at the race location to prepare them for five days of racing over desert dunes and rocky outcrops.
Though she has never raced at this level or in those exact conditions, Labuscagne is no stranger to the inside of a specialised, offroad racing vehicle.
“I started driving when I was seven years old,” Labuscagne says. “We used to go to the beach in Sodwana Bay and my dad would have me on his lap in the Jeep and he would teach me how to drive. That’s how I learned to drive; to steer, manage the throttle, and clutch control.”
Labuscagne’s love for anything with four wheels only increased as she grew older and in 2004 she partnered her father, Coetzee, for the first time at a regional cross-country event. Just two years later, she graduated to the national ranks and the Donaldson Cross-Country Championship.
“I actually didn’t start with my dad. I started with a cross-country veteran named Giel Nel. He’s won the special vehicle cate- gory numerous times,” she says.
“He has all the experience in the world, so as a rookie it was great to learn from him. He was one of our family friends and my dad previously raced with him before in a team. At the time he was driving a single-seater, because they didn’t have navigators back then, so it was new for him as well. He knew I had such a big passion for the sport and that it was my dream to get involved so he offered me the seat.”
Labuscagne would navigate Nel to victory in the special vehicles B category that year, before partnering up with her father in 2007.
She would go on to claim the same title again in 2011 and finish second in 2012, before moving up to class P in 2013 and going on to place third.
Last year, the father and daughter duo shifted up a gear to class A, the top category in the series, and went on to finish sixth.
“It’s the top class and it’s also the most competitive class. We also bought a new car at the beginning of the year so our main objective was just to sort out the car. I think finishing sixth in the class with all the challenges of a new car isn’t too bad,” she says.
“It’s a lot of fun. We get along really well in the car. When we’re in the car it’s about being professional, not about being dad and daughter, so I have always tried to be as professional as possible. I see it as a job. If it was anyone else driving with me I would approach it with the same amount of respect.”
Labuscagne’s professionalism and skill will be put to the ultimate test in April when she partners with Spanish driver Cristina Gutierrez Herrero for the Sealine.
The pair met for the first time at November’s training course, but had little time to
FRIDAY MARCH 18 2016 How quickly can you change the 35kg wheel of an off-road vehicle? Cros- country rally navigator Sandra Labuscagne needs less than four minutes. Labuscagne will partner Spanish driver Cristina Gutierrez Herrero for the Sealine Cross-Country Rally in Qatar in next month as part of a FIA initiative. And in November, the duo and eight other pairs of women underwent a three-day training course in the Arab nation to prepare them for the race.
“We also did exercises like changing a flat tyre. They took their time to see who could do it the fastest and Cristina and I were the fastest, so we won the challenge. We took 3 minutes and 45 seconds. We did it in the sand, on the dunes and on the exact cars we are going to drive when we compete.” forge an understanding as the navigators and drivers were swapped constantly.
Since then, both have been following their FIA-appointed physical training programmes and doing their best to get to know each other by swopping messages. They will meet up again for another threeday training camp immediately before the event, and spend as much time as possible practicing on the dunes.
The pair and their counterparts will be up against the best cross-country drivers the world has to offer. They will all compete in the T2 category, which features production vehicles, and will probably be driving modified Nissan Patrol bakkies.
Should they traverse the five-stage, 1 650km course in the fastest time, Labuscagne and Gutierrez Herrero will make history. Either way, Labuscagne, who works as a veterinarian, says the experience will be “a dream come true”.
“I’ve known about the Cross-Country World Cup and the Sealine Cross-Country Rally, but I never thought it would ever be possible for me to compete. It’s so expensive to compete in it, that I thought I would never be able to achieve it,” she says.