Laia Sanz

 

Laia Sanz first rode a bicycle at the age of two and began her motorsport career just five years later, demonstrating an early aptitude for racing that flourished into a prodigious talent.

She registered her maiden success against male opposition on an 80cc trial bike in 1997 and won the inaugural (then unofficial) edition of the Women’s Trial European Championship the next year. Victory in the Spanish Cadet Championship in 2000, competing as the only female rider, prompted the motorsport world to sit up and take notice and a host of titles – including seven consecutive FIM Women’s Trial World Championships from 2000 to 2006 – followed.

In total, Sanz has secured 14 Women’s Trial World Championship crowns and six FIM Women’s Enduro World Championships. Alongside her Trial exploits, the Spaniard fulfilled a childhood dream in 2011 by making her debut on the legendary Dakar Rally – winning the Female Trophy – with further appearances capped by a ninth-place overall finish in 2015, the best-ever result for a woman in the motorbike class.

After adding several car races to her repertoire, Sanz made her rallycross debut in the World RX-supporting RX Lites series on home soil in Barcelona in 2015. She was subsequently recruited by FIA World Rally Championship legend Carlos Sainz to partner him at his ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team in the inaugural season of electric off-road racing series Extreme E in 2021, going on to make her RX2e debut at Spa-Francorchamps later the same year.