Dakar Legends - Martine de Cortanze (3/3) - #Dakar2025 - Vidéo Dailymotion

Dakar

The 47th edition of the Dakar has set a date for the world's rally-raiders in Saudi Arabia from 3 to 17 January.    More information:  https://www.dakar.com   https://www.facebook.com/Dakar   https://www.twitter.com/Dakar   https://www.instagram.com/DakarRally   #Dakar2025    © Amaury Sport Organisation - https://www.aso.fr

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00:001979, I remember a stage that was absolute hell, hell for everybody.

00:18It was Bamako Nyoro, from Bamako to Nyoro de Seoul.

00:27It was a route designed by the devil.

00:30It was horrendous.

00:33There were people who'd broken down everywhere, people who'd crashed everywhere.

00:38One of the riders who was on course to win started in front of me, but he also broke

00:42down.

00:44I said to him, if you're already in trouble at this point, it's going to be awful.

00:51I broke my engine 50 kilometers from the finish, but I'm not the only one.

00:55I think most guys in the rally damaged their machines today.

00:58It's been absolute carnage in the bikes, much worse than in the cars.

01:03A few kilometers later, I came across another rider lying next to his bike.

01:07He appeared to be totally unconscious, and I was so overwhelmed that I started crying.

01:13I stopped, I started crying, and I stayed with him.

01:17I waited for a car to arrive, because that year the bikes and cars were all mixed together.

01:23And then I set off again.

01:26But it really was the stage from hell.

01:30And when I got to the finish, I was greeted by Thierry Sabine, who stamped my time card

01:37and he said to me, you're quite a woman.

01:43My hands had been gripping the handlebars so tightly that I couldn't uncurl them.

01:50I couldn't open my hands.

01:52So it was Thierry who took my fingers one by one and straightened them out like that.

01:59What gives you the strength to keep going?

02:01We have to get there.

02:02We started the rally, so we have to finish it.

02:04As long as the bike holds up, the rest has to hold up as well.

02:09What motivated me and what I was really proud of was my overall position, which I checked

02:14every morning.

02:16Every day I was gaining time and moving up the standings.

02:21Only three guys overtook me and I set off 33rd this morning, 33rd.

02:26Is the bike OK?

02:27I used to get a lot of help all the time, except on one stage.

02:36I heard someone talking behind my back.

02:39It was a guy, big and strong, and he was saying, all I want to do is finish ahead of that girl.

02:46I thought, we all have our pride.

02:53What do you think about people saying a rally like Paris-Dakar isn't the place for a woman?

02:58That wherever you go, people talk nonsense.

03:00I don't see why it wouldn't be a place for a woman, more than anyone else.

03:06In the end, I finished, and it was incredible for me, 11th in the bikes, as the top female

03:13rider.

03:14For me, being the best woman was nothing compared to my overall results.

03:19Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined coming 11th in the bikes.

Dakar Legends - Martine de Cortanze (3/3) - #Dakar2025

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