Be Humble and Have Respect for It

The Dakar Rally special series

When we interviewed Sara back in 2021, she mentioned that she really wanted to make it to the Dakar. In 2024, not only did Sara stand on the starting podium of Dakar, but she also became the first American female stage winner and eventually finished 4^th in the T4 category. We caught up with Sara again after her Dakar debut to hear about her preparation and adventure.

All photos © Sara Price unless otherwise noted

Even though we’ve only heard about Sara’s ambition for a Dakar outing in 2021, it has already become an obsession for her since 2015. In 2023, the wheel finally started to turn. “I have been trying to prepare for the Dakar Rally since 2015. It has been at the top of my bucket list ever since. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make it happen. In 2023, I finally decided that we were going to make it happen. It became my 100% focus.”

For her Dakar effort, Sara put together a team which later proved to be a winning team. “I wanted to come to Dakar as prepared as possible with this amount of knowledge I did have, which wasn’t much. I worked with a great team: my trainer Jimmy Lewis, my publicist Cynthia Prefontaine, and Mitchell Alsup who’s in charge of my vehicles. I think it’s key to be surrounded by a good team.”

You need a great team behind you because, at the end of the day, it’s something that takes a huge emotional toll on any person and any team. There’s not one day that goes by that might not have the highest of emotions and the lowest of emotions.

Within the great team around Sara, there is one person who navigates Sara throughout the entirety of the marathon, her co-driver Jeremy Gray. They only met last year, but the duo worked together perfectly in the desert. “Once I became part of the CanAm family, my boyfriend Ricky Brabec recommended Jeremy. Jeremy was also working with Alsup, so it all kind of came together perfectly. Jeremy is very smart and very in tune with the CanAms. Being a navigator is not an easy job. It was a great strength to have him in the vehicle.”

On her way to the Dakar, Sara’s first goal was to secure her entry in the Dakar through the Sonora Rally. She made it happen. But when they’ve actually got to the Dakar, Sara knows this is where all the unknowns lie. “We focused on the Sonora rally to hopefully win the Road to Dakar and get our entry paid for. It was a huge effort for me to make it to my first Dakar Rally, and a scary one with the investment and funds and faith I had to have in it. I knew it was never gonna go to plan, so I was always prepared for the unknown. I think that was key coming in. Our first year was just to be a sponge and learn all we possibly could. There’s so much that goes into it and so many things that have to align to make sure you have a good result. We need to make sure that we’re paying attention to everything we possibly can and listening to everyone who might have advice.”

The biggest surprise of her debut came in a different fashion though, a stage win in stage 10, which was not Sara’s target yet. “We did our best to stick to our plan. We knew that we just had to be consistent. We were not aiming to win stages, but we came out winning stage 10. Becoming the first American female driver to win a stage, and to be in a position to even possibly challenge for a Dakar win is huge.”

Starting out with this great debut, Sara is now more motivated than ever for her Dakar adventure in 2025 and beyond. “Right now we are securing funds and figuring out our options for 2025. We are focusing on Morocco 2024 leading into Dakar. In the meantime, we will be training all we can with Jimmy Lewis to prepare. I’d like to one day be the first American female driver to win Dakar. That’s now at the top of my bucket list. Also one day I would really love to run my own team at the Dakar Rally.”

In the end, as the rookie who won a stage, Sara has some advice for riders and drivers preparing for their first Dakar. “My biggest piece of advice would be to be humble and realize it’s not easy. Put the time in work. Have respect for it.”

We wish Sara all the best in her future Dakar quest!