Anastasiya Nikolaevna Nifontova (Анастасия Николаевна Нифонтова) is the only woman in Russia to have won international motorcycle competitions at the world championship level and to have been in the top 3 on the national level in five motorcycle racing disciplines (motocross, enduro, cross-country rally, supermoto, and road racing). Anastasiya is the first women in Russia to participate in the Dakar Rally and has done so twice, including riding in the unassisted “Original by Motul” category. We recently interviewed Anastasiya about her career, here is her story.
All Photos © Anastasiya Nifontova
Anastasiya has always been athletic since she was a child. She practiced figure skating and alpine skiing in her youth and achieved many successes in Russia. But as the young woman tried racing on a motorcycle for the first time in 1999, her true passion was discovered. “Since early childhood, I’ve always been fond of motorcycles. I always wanted to own a motorbike. However, I couldn’t even imagine that it was possible for a girl to take part in races. But as soon as I participated in my first race when I was 20, I understood that it brought me so much fun and joy. So right after my first finish, I was already thinking about the next race.”
From there, the first phase of Anastasiya’s career as a rally-raid rider began. She raced through many scenic spots in Russia such as Lake Seliger and Kolomna, participating in iconic rally-raid events. But after four years of racing, Anastasiya went on a three-year hiatus to study and to have a family. In 2005, she made a comeback unexpected to most people, herself included, and in different categories. “The comeback in 2005 was a surprise even for me. By that time, I was working as a cinematographer and didn’t have plans to return to racing. But by the end of the season, my old friend called me and proposed that I take part in motocross in the ladies’ category. I’ve never raced motocross before and after such a long break in any racing, it would be a real adventure. But I still agreed and managed to finish on the podium. That gave a breath of fresh air into my life, so I bought a new bike and resumed racing, first in the national motocross championship, then in the supermoto championship with the boys.”
In this new phase of Anastasiya’s racing career, she raced in almost all different disciplines – motocross, supermoto, enduro, and even circuit racing. Having tried everything, and succeeded in all of them, Anastasiya became more convinced how important rally-raid has been for her. “I returned back to rally-raid in 2009, and I finally understood that it was and is my only love. Rally-raid is not only about riding the bike, it also gives you freedom. It brings you a lot of new friends. You can see and discover a lot of new places. There are no boundaries in rally-raid races, only horizons with beautiful dawns and dusks. I don’t like to be in a crowd and bar-to-bar fights. I don’t like to be among strict boundaries that all circuit races have. I like to make my own path among sand dunes.”
For every rally-raid rider, the ultimate challenge is the Dakar Rally. For Anastasiya, it was first a far-fetched dream. She admires successful Dakar riders, but participating in it herself didn’t seem all that possible. Then in 2014, the Dakar Rally became a more tangible goal for Anastasiya. “I admired Stephane Peterhansel a lot. I had his poster on a wall in my room where he rode his fabulous blue Yamaha somewhere in the desert. In my first World Cross-Country Rally Championship round in UAE, I met a lot of rally legends. I asked them questions about Dakar and when I managed to finish one of the most challenging sand races there – the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, for the first time my Dakar dream turned into my Dakar goal.”
Anastasiya has overcome many obstacles to continue living her dream as a rider. Her journey towards her first Dakar start, also the first start by a Russian female rider, was once again met with some of the biggest obstacles she could face – injuries, funding, and racing ban from the FIM. “I broke my back twice and every time it was not obvious that I would be able to race again. The first half of the 2016 season was a 5-month rehabilitation after a serious spine injury I got during the Africa Eco Race in January. I’ve had problems with sponsors and had to borrow money from my friends to go to races and then I had to work hard to give all the money back. For the Dakar, finding the budget is also the most challenging thing. Moreover, two months before the start of my first Dakar, the FIM decided to stop my license due to alleged doping issues. Instead of preparing for the race, I spent this precious time proving that I really have the right to race. As I didn’t have money for professional lawyers, I had to turn myself into an anti-doping specialist. Luckily, after many sleepless nights, I won that fight and I got my start permission just the night before the start. I didn’t have time at all for proper preparations. That’s why it’s still a miracle for me that I managed to finish Dakar 2017. Looking back now I understand that it was worth it.”
I always thought that as soon as I crossed the finish podium and got my Dakar finisher medal, I would be the happiest person in the world. But the reality was absolutely different. I was devastated mentally and I almost cried because of a very strange feeling of emptiness inside of me. It may sound strange but this is really the best moment in my career. I will never finish the Dakar for the first time again. It taught me that life itself is an interesting process and your goals are not the finish line, they are just landmarks for riding ahead into the horizon.
In 2019, Anastasiya took on the grueling Dakar adventure again, but this time, with an even bigger challenge along the way – she participated in the unassisted category “Original by Motul”. “When I came to my sponsors about my Dakar 2.0 plan, they explained that from the marketing point of view, it wouldn’t be so interesting because I had already finished once. Then they came back to me with their proposal – racing in the “Original by Motul” category. Simply being a woman in that category would bring a lot of media attention and that was what sponsors mostly needed. I took some time to think it over and finally agreed. Honestly, I didn’t believe that I’d be able to finish this race and it turned out to be the case two or three days before the finish.”
As rally-raid riders mature and age, to prolong their racing career, they usually switch to the less physically demanding category of cars. Anastasiya’s racing idol Stephane Peterhansel did this and became a successful driver. Anastasiya has also made the switch to the T3 category since 2021. She hasn’t been able to participate in the Dakar yet after the switch due to unfair restrictions the FIA has put on Russian drivers. But she has never given up on working towards her next Dakar adventure. “Now after switching to cars, I can train a bit less without affecting my racing quality. When I raced on two wheels, I had to be perfectly in shape as bikes are very physically demanding. Cars don’t need as much muscle strength but I still need endurance a lot. I still want to race in the Dakar again and in the car category, definitely that’s still one of my biggest goals for today.”
One of the more prominent motorsport events supported by the Motorcycle Federation of Russia and the Russian Automobile Federation is the Silk Way Rally, which for a few years had racing routes across China. Anastasiya has also accompanied the Silk Way Rally to visit China, even though not in a racing capacity. “First I visited China in 2016 with the Silk Way Rally, but I didn’t actually race that year. I was absolutely amazed by this beautiful country and people. We were in the northern part of China and I liked the Gobi desert very much. Of course, after the finish in Beijing, I had time to visit the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. That was really something special that I haven’t seen before.”
In the end, like always, we asked Anastasiya to give some advice for young girls who would love to participate in motorsport. Here is what she said: “Don’t be afraid of doing what you want and what you love. If you feel that racing is living inside of you then please don’t stop, don’t pay attention to what others say, just wake up in the morning and move on towards your dream.”
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