“It is kind of like a marriage in the car!”

Annett Fischer and Annie Seel are gearing up for their second Dakar together in 2023, with the conviction that they can better last year's 15th place in the lightweight prototypes (T3) class. Annett is a trained sports physiotherapist from Germany who has been working for X-raid since 2012, and she has proven pedigree as both a driver and co-driver. In 2019, she made her Dakar debut alongside compatriot Andrea Peterhansel, finishing in 14th place in the SSVs. A year later she linked up with Camelia Liparoti as a co-driver, and while they failed to finish Dakar 2020, the two women claimed a sensational second place overall in the T3s at Dakar 2021. Annett returned to the driver's seat last year with Swedish motorcycle legend Annie, who first rode the Dakar in 2002 and completed it five times on a bike. Dakar 2022 was only their second rally together and their Yamaha was still in its development stages, so Annett describes it as ‘a first test drive’. The 37-year-old is confident she and Annie can be up at the sharp end of the standings this time around in their new X-raid YXZ 1000R Prototype, which boasts a 1000cc turbo engine. The duo took part in the full World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) this year, securing an impressive top-five finish at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. As well as allowing them to pick up experience and iron out some mechanical kinks, the W2RC helped to boost their relationship in the car. Annett has long been an advocate of getting more women involved in motorsport, and she is delighted to see so many of them participating in Dakar 2023 -although that doesn't mean she and Annie aren't still determined to defend their women's title in the lightweight prototypes!

A.F.: “Dakar 2022 was actually like a first test drive. Annie and I only had only done one race together, and it was a totally new car in a project that was still under development. Even if we didn't end up in the positions we’d love to be, we were still very proud. We also reached first position in the women’s category, which was very important for us. Annie and I did the whole W2RC this year, which was really a dream for me. We managed to finish sixth in the T3 class, and this is already a really great achievement for us. It is kind of like a marriage in the car! You get to know each other really quickly in those races, and now we are really good friends. Annie has improved a lot as a co-driver. We've found a really good spirit in the car and we have a lot of fun together. I think we really improved during the championship this year. You need to understand each other really well, you need to handle difficult situations really well. You need to be a good mechanic, you need to understand the car. We're two ladies, and it's not very common for ladies to have a lot of mechanical skills. I think we can be quite proud because we always brought the car home somehow. We've developed a new car for Dakar 2023. There's now a turbo engine, so we have a lot of power, which you really feel. It's a proper racing machine, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do with it. I definitely think we can improve this year. It's 14 days with lots of challenges and difficulties. It would be nice to have a position in the top 10, maybe even a little higher. But there are more than 10 crews that can win the T3 category! It's very cool for me as well because there's no gender gap anymore. If you're a good driver, you're a good driver. It will be even harder to fight for the women's trophy, because there are four all-women's teams in the T3s, which is amazing. We also have nearly equal men and women in the Yamaha team, which is a very cool achievement.”