2024 Dakar Rookie Sara Price Makes History
American racer Sara Price and navigator Jeremy Gray had a remarkably successful debut in their first Dakar Rally. Price set personal bests as well as Dakar records, beginning with a podium finish in the very first stage. Price then consistently maintained a top-10 position finishing streak for the next 8 stages.
Historic Stage Win
Price’s history making first Dakar win came in the hard-fought 10th stage of the 12-stage 2024 Dakar Rally. The 2024 Dakar stage win makes Price the first American women in the history of the famed rally to win a stage. Price stands with only two others, Dakar veterans Jutta Kleinschmidt and Christina Gutierrez, as the third woman to win a stage in the world’s toughest rally.
Dakar Rally Ranked
Piloting their SSV-classification South Racing Can-Am Maverick X3, Price and Gray ran up front with some of the world’s best drivers through the forbidding Arabian desert during the two-week 2024 Dakar Rally. She was consistent and posted SSV fastest times through many sections of stages. Price was ranked second overall in the SSV class after her record stage 10 win. The last two stages of this year’s 3,000-mile Dakar were considered the toughest and brought the team challenges in Stage 11 and 12. Price finished fourth overall in the 2024 Dakar Rally SSV classification and won the best rookie – an astonishing feat for a rookie and also a privateer team.
Looking Forward
For Price, “Racing Dakar had always been a dream. But we did it, we finished. And we finished well. It’s the toughest race in the world. We came so close to the podium near the end, but to have placed fourth in our first Dakar is an amazing accomplishment. It taught us that there is so much more to the Dakar than just driving.”
Heading home with a historic record in her first Dakar Rally and the competitive edge that continues to fuel her racing career, Price moves forward in the five-event 2024 World Rally Raid Championship (WR2C). Her spectacular performance and strong finish in the 2024 Dakar Rally placed Price second in the SSV class WR2C points race.
With strong results and key learnings, the determined and focused Price will return to the U.S. and begin training for the 2025 Dakar Rally.
Keep track of Sara Price racing at sarapricemx.com
