"Dakar Sistaz" in the starting blocks

Dakar 2021 | Stage 7 | Ha'il > Sakaka
January 11 ^th 2021 - 07:11 [GMT + 3]

The progression of 16-year-old Yasmeen and Aliyyah Koloc is already turning heads in the Dakar bivouac, as the sisters work towards their ambition of starting the race in 2023. Inspired by the feats of drivers such as Seth Quintero, third overall in the lightweight vehicle classification at age 18, they are already finding their bearings… and are dead serious about it!

Fate can sometimes shake up one's best-laid plans and send them in an even more stimulating direction. This is exactly what happened to Yasmeen and Aliyyah Koloc, whose dreams of a successful career in tennis were dashed by injuries. However, the twin daughters of Martin Koloc, a former European truck champion on the racetrack and, more importantly, the boss of the Czech Buggyra team, have all the resources, dynamism and opportunities they need. Born in Dubai, they have lived in countries such as Malaysia, Spain, Singapore, Seychelles and Czechia and grown up on racetracks, in workshops and in bivouacs. It is therefore only natural for them to be passionate about racing, with a rate of progression that makes their father proud and encourages them to keep going: "Their first taste of off-road racing was at the wheel of Can-Am cars, following which they tried their hand at track racing and did well first in GT3 and then in Formula 4. Now, their dream is to enter the Dakar."

In order to prepare the advent of the "Dakar Sistaz" to the world of off-road racing, the environment of Team Buggyra is rife with opportunities, with former F1 and endurance driver Tomáš Enge making his Dakar debut and Chilean Ignacio Casale joining the family and taking the girls under his wing with a view to "sharing with them everything I know about dunes, because that's where I grew up, but also about navigation, because it is key to finishing the Dakar". Yasmeen and Aliyyah discovered the bivouac last year and already have their hearts set on the 2023 edition, the first one they will be allowed to start. "My memories of watching the Coronel Bros., Carlos Sainz and Laia Sanz go several years back", says an enthusiastic Yasmeen. "Racing in the desert is totally awesome, although the dunes can be a bit daunting." Aliyyah has already had her fair share of thrills after setting a new truck speed world record of 218 km/h in a juggernaut with 1,900 horsepower, but she is now focused on learning mechanics in the family team: "We try to help, we want to learn more, we love this." Following the Dakar, the family plans to spend several months in Saudi Arabia so Aliyyah and Yasmeen can get used to the terrain and fine-tune their build-up. Buggyra leaves nothing to chance.