Sara Price slid out of her off-road vehicle at the Dakar Rally, after a rigorous ride through the diabolical dust and dunes in Saudi Arabia, and checked for certain she made history in the endurance event.
“I don’t think an American female’s ever won a stage, right,” she asked.
Price was right, the 31-year-old Californian this week became the first female American driver and third woman ever to win a Dakar stage.
Price has forged a career out of remote adventures around the globe. She’s a former X Games medalist, drove in an electric racing series for Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500 team owner Chip Ganassi, was a national dirt bike champion, and even went Hollywood for a spell. Look it up on IMDB, she boasts credits as a stunt driver, including in “Jumanji: The Next Level.”
The off-road race that stretches for thousands of miles, this year held up to 15 days throughout the jagged rocks and canyons in Saudi territory, had been just a dream for Price since 2015.
Price poured in her own money, held fundraisers in Canyon Lake, California (where she was raised) to raise roughly $500,000 and “took a leap of faith” to reach Dakar. Up first, she warmed up for Dakar in October with a second-place finish overall in the World Rally-Raid Championship in Morocco. Yes, Price also became the first American woman to earn a stage win in the race more commonly known as Rallye Du Maroc.
She arrived in Saudi Arabia as a privateer with a group that included her mechanic, navigator, best friend, and boyfriend — fellow driver Ricky Brabec, who in 2020 became the first American to win the motorcycle division at Dakar.
“If you go anywhere else and race in the world, everyone knows Dakar Rally,” Price said. “They know Dakar is a pinnacle of off-road. Everyone knows the racers. But if you come to America, not everyone really is familiar with or it or they don’t know the racers. It’s not quite as intense as the rest of the world.”
Perhaps Price’s stage win — with two stages left to go, the next two days are pivotal in clinching a victory or finishing on the podium — can open some eyes from fans and corporate sponsors in the American racing world.
“My whole life has been surrounded by racing,” she said. “I’ve raced from two wheels to four wheels, a lot of different disciplines. This is the pinnacle for me.”
According to abcnews.go.com. Source of photos: internet
