Growing up, Jutta Kleinschmidt loved winter sports. She must have never imagined herself driving a motorbike, buggy or a car through the deserts of North Africa or the magnificent Rub Al Khali in the UAE. But then she saw some photographs of the Dakar Rally and her interest was piqued.
“When I was young, I saw pictures from the Dakar rally and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a huge adventure – I want to do that’,” said Kleinschmidt, who is the only woman to win the Dakar Rally. “That’s how it started. I said that’s what I wanted to do and I bought a bike.”
Then 18, Kleinschmidt prepared that bike on her own – “in my apartment by myself” – and started racing, not full-time because she was studying for her degree in physics. Later, she worked six years as an engineer in the research and development department of BMW before deciding to quit her job and focus solely on motorsports.
In 1987, she took her motorbike out into the deserts of Egypt for her first rally and then in January, 1988, she experienced the challenges of the Dakar Rally for the first time. She returned three times for the gruelling Paris-Dakar run on her motorbike, before switching to four wheels in 1995 and becoming involved in the development of the most successful rally car, the Mitsubishi Pajero Evo.
She won the Dakar in that same car in 2001. Life changed completely for Kleinschmidt.
“When you win the Dakar, that’s a huge achievement, no question,” said the German, who was driving a buggy this week in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. “It actually changes your life because everybody starts recognising you.
“There is such a huge difference between being first and second, because the year after I finished second in Dakar and everybody back home said, ‘Oh, this year she lost’. If you think how hard it is to be second, it’s already a very good result. But for the people it’s like that: the first one is the winner and the second one is the loser. It’s what it is.”
People are, of course, also unaware about the sacrifices a driver has to make. Or the huge costs involved competing in the sport. That is the reason Kleinschmidt started on a bike.
“If I didn’t start on a motorcycle, I would never start,” she said. “On a bike, it’s much cheaper, so you can find the budget because it’s a bike. But the car itself is so expensive. Then the tyres and the petrol, it’s all much more expensive than on the bike.”
According to Kleinschmidt, motorsport loses a lot of young talents – more so than other sports – because of the abhorrent costs. That is why she is excited about the new experimental project she is working with on the X-raid buggy project.
“From what I can say from my own experience, the most important is to get the support because car racing is so expensive,” said Kleinschmidt, 53, . “It was the same for me, even though I have won the Dakar.
“The last six or seven years, even nine years, I was not able to find sponsorship and this is a big problem.
“But what I really like now is, even in this Desert Challenge, there are a lot of buggies competing side-by-side. I tried one of these last year, in Poland, and they are really good. They are fun and they are cheap, and I am really happy to see things like that because it makes motorsport affordable also for younger people.
“That’s what we have to aim for – to make sure that talented young people can also take part. I believe it is really important to get young people into motorsports. I feel we are losing a lot of young talents because they cannot find the sponsors or the support to continue in this sport.”
Kleinschmidt is doing her bit to make sure the young talents keep coming in, especially young females, as she wants to see another woman win the Dakar Rally sooner rather than later.
“Unfortunately, I am the only lady to win the Dakar until now,” said Kleinschmidt, who first visited the UAE in 1994. “But you can see we have some ladies coming. I did a project for young race drivers last year and we selected a three-lady team for cross-country rallying and they will race in Qatar in two weeks.
“So, we are very excited. I think it’s a good start and I believe we have found very talented young race drivers.”
The women, born between 1980 and 1997, were picked last November following a “Women’s Cross-Country Selection” programme, which was organised by the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission in cooperation with the Qatar Motor and Motorcycling Federation.
Kleinschmidt is excited by the talent she saw and is confident the women selected can hold their own against the men.
“In car racing, it’s a bit different because it’s not actually the last power you need in your body,” she said. “For sure, I think if you run, or if you do other stuff where you only use your body, then maybe a woman is at a disadvantage.
“But I think, especially for cross-country rally, that is not the case because so many things become important. Sure, your physical fitness is important, but also your driving style, the car and the team is very important. You must be one with your car and you must have a good team behind you, who support you.
“You must be clever too: you should know, for example, not to go on maximum attack and then places where you attack a lot because you need to.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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