The dust may be well and truly settled on the 2026 edition of the Dakar, but here at It’s Race Week! we’ve still not gotten over some of the remarkable stories that we got to witness.
With the recent announcement of the 2027 W2RC calendar, which kicks off with next year’s edition of the Dakar, we thought it would be the perfect time to look back at this year’s epic event.
It’s Race Week! have picked nine women who really stood out to us at this year’s fantastic motorsport spectacle. We want to highlight their achievements and either remind you of their impact or introduce you to them for the first time.
Puck Klaassen
Puck Klaassen originally made her debut at the legendary event in the Dakar Classic back in 2024, alongside her father, Sebastiaan. This year, however, Puck teamed up with Argentinian Co-Driver Augusto Sanz for her third Dakar outing.
Little did she know that this third time, it would indeed prove to be the charm, as it was the Dutch driver’s most successful outing to date. By the end of the event, Klaassen became just the fifth woman in history to win a stage of the Dakar – doing so at the end of Stage 3. In doing so, Puck follows in the footsteps of Jutta Kleinschmidt, Cristina Gutiérrez, Sara Price and Dania Akeel.
But Puck wasn’t done just yet. Another victory followed for the Dutch race after Stage 8. A further two trips to the podium came her way too. At just twenty three, Puck is still very much at the start of her motorsport career - especially when you see the longevity of drivers such as the aforementioned Kleinschmidt and Dakar legend, Carlos Sainz Sr. If Puck continues as she has been performing so far, there’s a real chance that she could not only finish overall on the podium one day - but win the infamous Dakar too.
Sara Price
In the years to come, when people look back at the Dakar of 2026, it’ll be synonymous with a handful of names. Sara Price is one of those who immediately come to mind. Competing in the Stock Class with a Land Rover Defender alongside her navigator, Sean Berriman, Sara barely put a foot wrong all Dakar.
Over the course of the event, Sara accrued four stage wins and nine more podium finishes. It was a monumental performance from the American driver and felt like the culmination of the first part of her career so far, which has seen her compete in various Baja Events and the Extreme E Championship, amongst other things.
After two weeks in the Saudi Arabian desert, Sara Price finished P2 overall in her category. It’s an incredible achievement that perfectly encapsulates why she’s caught the attention of so many in recent times while also giving us a great tease of what we might be able to expect from Price in the years to come – both at the Dakar and elsewhere.
Rebecca Busi
Rebecca Busi is an incredible breed of driver. Having made her racing debut at the Dakar Classic in 2022 (with an all-or-nothing mindset), she’s continued to scrap away and forge a career in motorsport ever since.
But her time in the racing world so far hasn’t been plain sailing, and Busi’s Dakar experience in 2026 could be easily described as a continuous case of character building.
Plagued with car trouble every other day, any progress she made up to each respective point would then be essentially undone, and Rebecca would find herself back at square one.
But, as you might have guessed, the Italian Stallion didn’t let this deter her from fighting on, regardless of the physical and mental challenges that the Dakar kept throwing at her. On the days when there weren’t major issues with the car, Rebecca embodied her motto of “Eat Pasta, Drive Faster” by overtaking what can only be described as an insane number of cars (often sixty to seventy a day) – multiple times across the thirteen stages.
P28 overall in the Challenger Class doesn’t then reflect what Rebecca is truly capable of. But for those who enjoy diving into the details of motorsport, there’s plenty to love about Busi’s 2026 Dakar performance. That fact, combined with Busi’s never-say-die fighting attitude, is a perfect example of why she belongs both in off road racing – and the Dakar itself - and why she’s someone who stands out from the pack in 2026.
Cristina Gutierrez
Cristina Gutierrez has been a staple of modern motorsport for much of the last decade, having competed in the World Rally Raid Championship, Extreme E and, of course, the Dakar. She became only the second woman in history, and the first ever from Spain, in 2024 to win the Dakar - competing in the Challenger category - after Jutta Kleinschmidt.
In 2025, she moved into the cars category for the Dakar and finished the race in 40th place overall. This was due to significant mechanical issues and a subsequent shift to support her Dacia teammates after losing too much time. The aim then for 2026 was simple - improve. Gutierrez did just that this year as she finished multiple stages inside the top ten with a best result of P5 at the end of Stage 3. Come the end of the Dakar, she finished in P11 overall - a whopping twenty-nine place higher than the year before.
In motorsport, drivers who either don’t win or finish on the podium, or even in the top ten, can and are often overlooked. But Gutierrez is proof of why it’s wrong to look only at the simple end result on a piece of paper and why it’s important to delve into the details. It was clear from her Extreme E days that Gutierrez was a force to be reckoned with, and her Dakar result in 2026 reaffirms this.
Lucie Baud
2026 marked Lucie Baud’s third time competing in the Dakar, racing in the classic category as a co-driver alongside her father, Lionel. Die-hard fans love the classic edition of the race, and it’s where many of the truly awesome stories from all of motorsport originate.
“We’re going to the Dakar with my father to live a human adventure alongside a great team.” - Lucie Baud
The daughter-father duo were consistent throughout their 2026 Dakar campaign, never finishing further back than P44 overall and with a best result of P27, which came at the end of the second stage. Their story stands out because it’s a journey that both Lucie and Lionel have been on together for a number of years. They’ve competed in many other races together, each giving them essential experience needed to take on a race like the Dakar. It surely won’t be the last time the pair compete together in this race, and it is one to keep abreast of in the future.
Dania Akeel
The Saudi Arabian driver has been going from strength to strength ever since she first began on her motorsport journey, and it was no different at the Dakar in 2026.
Akeel meant business from the word go as she finished on the podium immediately at the end of Stage 1 with a P3 result in the Challenger category. What’s more, there were another six visits to the podium for Dania after that opening-stage podium. Frustratingly, winning a stage of the Dakar did elude her in 2026.
However, P8 overall by the end of the Dakar was still enough to impress everyone, while also reaffirming her status as both a driver and one of the Middle East’s best ever spotting exports.
Laia Sanz
Laia Sanz’s transition from two wheels to four in the Dakar continued in 2026. It hasn’t been easy for the Spanish driver in the last couple of editions of the race, with last year’s race providing Laia with her first (and hopefully final) Dakar DNF. With prior best result of P23 overall, Laia will of course have been looking to better that this year - but first and foremost, to just take on and complete the full race.
Despite some more setbacks at points, Laia had a quietly understated Dakar, which deserves some attention. She had a highest finish of P13 and went on to beat her previous Dakar best overall result by finishing in P20 in the car category.
Helen Tait Wright and Marcella Kirk
For anyone following the Dakar in 2026, it will have been very difficult to avoid hearing about the dynamic duo that is Helen Tait Wright and Marcella Kirk.
This year, Helen and Marcella became the first British women’s team to compete in and complete the Dakar in history. The pair competed in the event with a Land Rover 110 Td5, which was built in-house, in the classic category of the Dakar Classic. While they’d received sponsorship in order to go racing, we all know that motorsport is still an expensive sport and sometimes, that’s not enough. To ensure that they got to the Dakar, they sold £114,000 worth of their own possessions to help guarantee their needs during the race and to make sure the car was built to their needs on time.
“I’ve sold my jewellery, lots of things really - anything that moved but not my husband.” - Helen Tait Wright
They soon became fan favourites thanks to clips of them appearing on social media and their relatable personas, both in and out of the car.
The pair, both in their 50s, finished consistently in P70s and P80s in their class and completed the Dakar in P83 overall. While this was their first time at the Dakar, many will be hoping that it’s not the last time. Don’t be surprised either when tuning into the Dakar in 2027 to find new entrants taking part after having watched Helen and Marcella competing this year.
Motorsport is as rich as it is because of brilliant stories such as theirs and demonstrates why results do matter, but aren’t always everything.