Laia Sanz says she is ready to return to the Dakar Rally despite contracting Lyme Disease during the summer. The GasGas RC 450F rider is fully focused on completing her 11th consecutive Dakar and delivering another strong result. The 43rd edition of the race will see an increased emphasis placed on rider navigation and competitor’s abilities to tackle slower-speed, technical terrain, which is great news for Laia. Reducing the event’s average speeds, with her ability to both navigate well while under pressure and complete long stages with the minimum of mistakes, Laia is upbeat about this year’s route.
“It’s been a really tough year for me, so to be able to look forward to racing the 2021 Dakar means so much,” says Sanz. “I injured my hand on the second stage of this year’s Dakar, back in January, and although I carried on and completed the event the injury turned out to be worse than we thought. It took a while at the beginning of the year to recover from that. Unfortunately, when I was finally able to get out on my bikes again, I started to feel ill. Eventually I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which made me feel very unwell. Thankfully, with the right treatment I have been able to start riding again. I know I’m not 100%… I don’t want to put any pressure on myself, and another finish would be incredible, but my main goal is to go there and just enjoy the race.”
Dakar 2021 will start and finish at the Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah. Like all competitors, Laia will face a short qualifying prologue on Saturday, January 2, before starting the rally proper and 12 long and demanding stages covering a total of 7,646 km. With a rest day in Ha’il midway through the race, Laia will then work her way back to Jeddah on January 15, having raced 4,767 km of timed special stages against the clock.
