DREAMING OF DAKAR
FORTY-PLUS YEARS OF OFF-ROADING EXTREMES
Trillions of sand particulates ew through the air as a rally rig careened over the sand dunes. Rugged and rocky landscapes were met with silty sand dunes large enough to swallow houses. The rig could barely stay upright, while dust splayed wildly until settling onto Saudi Arabia’s remote valley oor. There’s no looking back— only forward—to maintain focused momentum and determination. Elevation changes, along with winding tracks, tested competitors as they raced against each other during one of the most grueling and treacherous rallies in the world: the Dakar Rally. It’s one of the world’s most extreme off-road competitions, challenging man, machine and mental stamina.
Dakar Rally History
Formally known as the Paris–Dakar Rally, the Dakar Rally is an annual event that tests the strength of both seasoned off-road ralliers and new competitors. The rally is hosted by the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), and most of its competitions have been held annually since the rally’s inception in 1978 (the Dakar has had only one cancellation in 2008 because of security concerns).
The Dakar is an extreme off-road competition that lasts several days and covers some of the most formidable lands the world has to offer. It persuades people from all walks of life to compete.
The 2021 Dakar Rally was hosted in Saudi Arabia, as it was the previous year. It began with the Prologue the day after New Year’s Day and then continued through January 15. The rally consisted of 12 stages, with one stage occurring each day. Each stage varied in degrees of challenges, terrain, length of time and mileage.
This off-road challenge started with a multitude of motorbike, quad and vehicular classes and ended in Jeddah, a city in the Hejaz region
of Saudi Arabia. Competitors lucky enough to nish the extreme rally completed nearly 5,000 miles, traversing through a multitude of landscapes that posed different hazards, as well as visiting the shores of the Red Sea.
The famed Dakar crosses miles of mud, sand dunes, tall grasses and plenty of rocks. The rally, held during the COVID-19 outbreak, was met with plenty of challenges, triumphs ... and everything in between. Dakar’s organization had strict testing and quarantine requirements during the rally and, except for gas station stops, the ralliers were instructed not to interact with the local populations for safety reasons.
Who Participated?
The 2021 Dakar Rally welcomed 555 total ralliers, who comprised a mix of seasoned professional racers and amateur competitors. While the majority of the ralliers were actually rst-time participants (making up about 80 percent of the rally population), an impressive
“COMPETITORS LUCKY ENOUGH TO FINISH THE EXTREME RALLY COMPLETED NEARLY 5,000 MILES, TRAVERSING THROUGH A MULTITUDE OF LANDSCAPES THAT POSED DIFFERENT HAZARDS, AS WELL AS VISITING THE SHORES OF THE RED SEA.”
83 competitors had rallied Dakar at least 10 times before.
Make no mistake: Women also competed in this grueling, 12-day rally, including the only all-female team: 2021 ralliers Amy Lerner and Sara Bossaert of Team AL Rally. In short, 321 vehicles represented 49 nationalities that rallied their way through Saudi Arabia. From motorbike and quad classes to various car and massive truck designations, each segment showcased every team—from the underdogs to the dominant players.
While most of the aforementioned classes duked it out for top honors in race categories involving speed, a new class was instituted for 2021: the Classic Class. This new class is considered a regularity rally. The Classic Class was speci cally geared for rally-equipped pre-2000 vehicles. Classic ralliers followed
the same general direction as its racing siblings; included the same starting and stopping points; and the same bivouac for vehicle prep, maintenance and so on.
However, Classic Class competitors, 24 entries total, were challenged with traveling a certain distance using a road book in as close to their ideal time as possible. Think of it as a time, speed and distance challenge that consisted of precise time management and navigational skills to arrive exactly on time and on target as intended, as opposed to a full-throttle “go-get-em” attitude to conquer the nish line rst in class.
The Perfect Porsche
Amy Lerner and Sara Bossaert of Team
AL, equipped with Lerner’s new-to-her and rally-ready 1982 3.0 Porsche 911 SC, competed in the Dakar’s new Classic Class. When asked why she decided to rally Dakar, she explained, “Because it’s the Dakar, the most epic motorsports event in the world, added the Dakar Classic—an opportunity to compete in vehicles that were a part of the heritage of the rally’s early days.”
Lerner, a seasoned racer who’s based in the United States, has a decorated race portfolio. She’s a four-time Gazelle Rally competitor
“THE FAMED DAKAR CROSSES MILES OF MUD, SAND DUNES, TALL GRASSES AND PLENTY OF ROCKS.”
(Top 10, Eco-driving winner), an Australasian Safari Rally participant (lass winner, Overall Production winner), a Dakar Challenge winner and Mint 400 racer (Second and Fifth places). She’s been involved with off-road racing for more than 10 years. She started competing at the Gazelle Rally in Morocco and has since continued to rally across the globe.
“I decided to see if I could put a team together two weeks before the close of registration at the end of October,” Lerner said. “My car needed to be in Marseille to ship on December 1. The constantly changing COVID restrictions meant four sets of ight itineraries and three sets of hotel reservations before we left.”
She purchased the Porsche (sight unseen) one week before the 2021 Dakar registrations closed. “The rst time I drove it off-road was for the Prologue. It’s raced and won at other rallies in Morocco and Belgium.”
Armed with an FIA-spec roll cage, Recaro racing seats, harnesses, berglass doors, an intercom, as well as an upgraded clutch and transmission, fuel cell and racing-tuned engine, the car ran in the H1.1 class that was designated for pre-1986 2WD vehicles. Additional upgrades, such as Maxtrax recovery boards and beefy BF Goodrich tires, helped the duo to the nish line.
“The terrain was tough—tougher than I expected for vintage vehicles—and the format was new to me, so there was a learning curve,” Lerner pointed out.
Sara Bossaert served as Lerner’s co-driver. A Belgian/Catalan who lives in Barcelona, Spain, she never participated in any motorsport before ... and barely drove a car. However, Lerner said she improved quickly and that she did an incredible job during the grueling, 12-day rally. Because Bossaert is an architect and competitive sailor, Lerner added that her brain works in a way that proved perfect for the Dakar Classic.
Lerner didn’t feel differently about having the only all-female team: “Having had all-men or mixed-gender teams, it’s about competence, drive and grit, not gender.”
Lerner and Bossaert nished Second of three competitors in her class and 15th overall