2023-12-31 20:15:07
After 13 completed participations, the KH-7 driver is confident in her possibilities at the wheel of a 4×2 buggy superior to the one she drove in the last edition. Together with Maurizio Gerini as co-driver, she will fight for a place on the podium in the 4×2 category and achieve a good result in the general classification.
—Do you still consider yourself a rookie in cars?
—Well… I’m still a rookie although it will be my third year in the Dakar in cars. There are people who have only done two Dakars but have done many rallies during the year. I go from Dakar to Dakar and I still feel like a beginner, although with the experience of the Extreme-E, which is few kilometers but of great quality, I don’t feel as new as I did at the beginning.
—Do you miss the motorcycle?
—I find the day-to-day life of the motorcycle missing because you train every day and I like that, and with the car you can’t train every day. I find the motorcycle family to be missing because I always trained with teammates and I find that environment very missing. And in the dunes too because it is perhaps the most fun. But I don’t notice anything other than the risk involved in doing the Dakar on a motorcycle… With my co-pilot, who also comes from motorcycles, sometimes you make the comment: “Wow, this stage with stones or rain, how lazy it is to have to do it.” on motorcycle…”.
—Have you been able to prepare well?
—I have done the Baja Aragón and extreme E. We also tested the car and trained in Morocco. In an ideal world it is not enough but in my world it is. In the end, with the tools you have you should do the best you can. I dont complain. We have improved in terms of means compared to last year. If it were up to me I would spend the year doing races.
-What is the OBJETIVE?
—This year is to enjoy. Last year it went very wrong for us from the beginning. It was a very frustrating Dakar, going against the flow the entire race. The second day we had a problem and we lost seven hours and it becomes another race because you start behind every day, you have to pass people, the track is cut, you enter into a somewhat dodgy dynamic… We couldn’t enjoy it and that’s what we want to do now because it is linked to doing it well. And that would lead us to a good result.
—Enjoying means looking better than last year, right?
—Yes, but last year is not a reference for me. A 40th place would not be good for me. If the Dakar goes the way it should, I want to be further ahead. In the stages I would like to be more regularly in the top 15, but it is very difficult. In the end, you have to focus more on fighting in the category because that leads you to do well overall. If the mechanics don’t fail us, with the experience we have, we can finish well.
Withstand the pressure
—Do you feel that every year you pass an exam and that your future depends on next year?
-Completely. Last year’s return was the most complicated. It was hard for me because you come back with a feeling of frustration. We had rhythm but we couldn’t show it. But I have already experienced this feeling of examination in the past and it does not affect me too much. It happened to me on a motorcycle. With Honda, which was my best Dakar, was when I played the most. My contract was ending and if I had gone home on the second day I wouldn’t be where I am now. There have been many years like this. It’s something I know how to manage well but… The last years on a motorcycle were more comfortable, I had three-year contracts and you know that after so many good years the team will allow you to have a bad year… But now I am at a transition point in which I must demonstrate… It’s like an exam, yes.
—The ideal is to have a long-term project…
-Yeah. Now there is more pressure but things have never been easy or easy for me. In the moments of greatest difficulty I have known how to get out. I hope and trust that it will be like that now too.
—What do you think of this year’s tour?
—Last year the hardness went up a point and it should be that way. It’s a Dakar. You have to enjoy but suffer at the same time. This year I expect a point more toughness compared to last year. This 48-hour stage, with a marathon stage, more kilometers of dunes… I expect a very hard Dakar.
—What importance do you give to navigation?
—Navigation in recent years is not so complicated. Longer ago it was more difficult. I think it should be worth more, it’s a Dakar and we would have to miss more.
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