Cristina Gutierrez shines in Dakar: best result for a woman in a car since 2001

Cristina Gutierrez, who is used to making history in the Dakar, finished 11th He competed in the Top Car category at the 2026 Dakar as part of Dacia’s “Dream Team” alongside new champion Nasser Al-Attiyah, Sébastien Loeb, and world champion Lucas Moraes.

However, its strong performance does not guarantee anything for 2027, as there are strong rumors that Dacia could leave the Dakar after the victory.

If the Romanian company leaves, Cristina will have to look for a seat like the rest of her teammates, but there are not many empty seats in the big team.

Good performance and two brilliant days

The Burgos native got off to a very good start, particularly on stage three, where she secured a special position of fifth, equaling her best stage position from last year, when she debuted in the premier class and as an official driver. The Spanish company came in seventh place as the second Dasia, ahead of only Moraes.

And there it became clear that, although Christina had more pieces than her teammates, the contract with Le Group gave her the freedom to compete, although depending on how the race progressed she would probably have to carry out team duties.

In Stage 9 of the second week, he placed 6th in the first half of the marathon stage and came close to finishing 5th. that special thing He suffered a power failure on Stage 8 and recovered with 70km to go in the day when his power steering went out. ”The truth is, you can imagine how difficult it is to drive a 2.5-ton car without power steering,” he said at the time.

Despite a strong start, the following can happen: dacia I would like you to complete team tasks. So he had to do it in the beams of the shelter, stage 9. Without the support of the team during the marathon stage, Dacia asked him to provide parts to repair Loeb’s power steering, and his co-driver, experienced mechanic Pablo Moreno, had to come up with a solution so that he could continue racing no matter what. Finally, Christina finished 11th, the best result for a woman since Jutta Kleinschmidt’s victory.

“It was a very emotional Dakar in every sense of the word. There were ups and downs, but we bounced back from each one. And it’s a result we deserved. It was after two years of hard work in tests and races and a World Cup where we couldn’t win in the last meter (in Al Attiyah vs. Moraes). So the players deserved it and we will celebrate it with them,” said Christina upon arriving at the final goal in Yanbu.