“We are coming with renewed options and thinking about victory”

In January 2021, Cristina Gutiérrez became the first woman to win a stage in the Dakar Rally since Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2005. And in 2022, she took another step forward by claiming her maiden Dakar podium in the T3 class. One year later, she has a new major challenge: the overall victory in the category. The 31-year-old Spaniard - an orthodontist by profession - who got her start in rallying in 2011, is currently the female reference in this discipline, having become the first woman to win the FIA Cross-Country World Cup with the Red Bull Off-Road Team in 2021. An engine failure and reliability problems on the 2022 Dakar eliminated her from the fight for the win. However, it did not prevent her from finishing on the podium. This year she has changed team and vehicle with Red Bull, with the formation of the new Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team. Cristina will now have a reliable car, which allows her to think about the overall victory. Cristina's ceiling still seems to have no limits, as she has been exponentially improving since she finished her first Dakar in 2017, the first woman from her country to do so in the category. She has spent the last two years driving in Extreme E alongside Sébastien Loeb in the X44 team of seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton and, in this sec-ond year in the electric category, Cristina and 'Seb' won the championship. Gutiérrez participated with Red Bull in the first FIM W2RC World Rally-Raid Championship in 2022 and fought for the title until the final round. A few setbacks prevented her from winning the crown, but she still claimed a brilliant podium finish in the overall T3. After competing in the two previous Dakars with Frenchman François Cazalet as co-driver, this year she will have Pablo Moreno Huete by her side, who provided her with the navigation notes on the 2019 and 2020 Dakars. Together, they want to continue to make history.

C.G.: “The 2022 Dakar was good for us. We had some reliability problems in the first week. But as everyone knows, there are many twists and turns on the Dakar, and we managed to get a podium finish, the first of my career. I was delighted because it was a dream come true for me. We got the trophy we wanted so much, and to have a 'Touareg' at home after so many years of trying is amazing. We had an engine failure in one stage and had to run on two cylinders. We lost about 5 hours, and despite that reliability issue and other problems, I managed to finish on the podium. It was one of my best Dakars or the one I remember best.
For the 2023 Dakar, we have renewed options because we changed team and vehicle and have seen that South Racing with the Can-Am was the team to beat. They have won several consecutive Dakars, and the step taken by Red Bull is crucial. We are so excited and motivat-ed, and I'm only thinking about winning. Each year the competition level increases, but I'm thinking about victory because I'm competitive, and my driving style suits this type of rally”.



P.M.: “I helped Cristina last year with the preparation for the races, and this year she asked me if I wanted to be her co-driver on the Dakar. I wanted to come back, and everything worked out. We competed as a team in the 2019 and 2020 Dakars, and then I stopped. We have been close friends for several years and are returning to the Dakar together. We have done two Dakars together, and the rapport inside and outside the car is excellent. In those two Dakars, the objective was very different, to do well, whereas now the goal is to win in T3.
Now we can focus only on the racing. In the past, I was in charge of the technical aspects, and she was tasked with finding sponsors. Thankfully, with her experience and titles, we no longer have to do any of that and can focus on the rally in a better way. Returning to the Dakar is a dream come true. With Cristina and the new Red Bull Can-Am Factory Team, victory is the dream. Maybe I lack some mileage compared to other co-drivers, but no one has more desire than me”.