Laia Sanz’s Dakar Resolve: Recovery, Focus, and the Drive to Enjoy the Ride

In Dakar last year, Laia Sanz of Corbera de Llobregat, born in 1985, endured a dramatic crash where the dune environment sent the car into five somersaults. Both she and her co-pilot Maurizio Gerini escaped unharmed, but the vehicle was destroyed. Within ten minutes, the team began taking the car apart to repair it as quickly as possible. Some would have given up, yet Sanz pressed on and completed Dakar once more, logging a fourteenth finish in the event that year. Now she competes in her third Dakar with a renewed focus on enjoying the ride. She spoke with a Spanish newspaper before departing for Saudi Arabia on the Friday ahead of the rally start.