Part today Rebecca Busi for one of the toughest and most legendary car races ever, the Paris-Dakar. It is the 46th edition of the competition, the third for the 27-year-old from Bologna, the only Italian female driver in the race.
Ahead of her is almost 7,900 km through the deserts and dunes of Saudi Arabia, starting from AlUla on the shores of the Red Sea and I arrive in Yanbu. Today the 158 km prologue and then the actual route in 12 stageswith a rest day on January 13th in Riyadh: a challenge in which physical and psychological fitness go hand in hand.
Who is Rebecca Busi
Rebecca Busi (Press Office)
Determined, passionate, focused on her goals: in 2022 Rebecca was, in her first Dakar, the youngest Italian to have ever participated in the competition. A dream cultivated since she was a child, a passion for cars inherited from her father and from his uncle, the first motorcycle rally driver with three participations in the legendary Pharaon’s Rally, the second by car: the first races with dad Roberto as navigator, the stubbornness that leads her to convince him, with her mother’s help, to get behind the wheel. So, when it comes to choosing where to start, Rebecca has no doubts, and after selling her car he asks for the remaining budget as a graduation gift (in Economics) to participate in his first race, the Dakar precisely: go for broke, immediately.
How she prepared for the Paris-Dakar
For his third time – this time as a professional – in which once again she is the only Italian female pilot, Rebecca spent 2 weeks of preparation in the Atacama desert, Chiletaking his Maverick Can Am , after 13 stages.
How the race takes place
A grueling race with his seven to eight hours of driving a day for two weeks which require maximum preparation and concentration both physically and mentally: which is why For the race, Rebecca relied on a mental coach who helps her overcome moments of excessive tensionbecause the Dakar is a race that is completed with the head even before with the arms and legs.
Alongside her will be Sergio Lafuente, his co-driver from the Morocco Rally, which with its 15 editions is Dakar Legend, as they say among the veterans of the race, while his father will be in the assistance car, as from the first year: what was his dream has been realized from his daughter, in a country like Saudi Arabia which only granted driving licenses to women again in 2018, after 28 years of ban.
Rebecca wanted to run her first Dakar in the country with a rainbow helmet, like the one chosen by Lewis Hamilton in 2021 for the penultimate Grand Prix of the season, held in Saudi Arabia. Even if, beyond the symbols, Rebecca has already made her revolution, breaking the glass ceiling in a male world like that of car racing.
«I believe that other countries are better at enhancing the presence of women in contexts of this type – says Rebecca -. I think of places like that Spain or South America, where the female drivers are real media stars. It’s not an ambition of mine, my only desire is to race. But I’m sure that, if my story were known, maybe some little girl who wants to start running and thinks she can’t do it would feel less alone. Here you are, If I could give hope to even one girl, I would be happy».
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