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 first victory against male opposition in an 80cc category in 1997 and won the inaugural (then unofficial) edition of the Women’s Trial European Championship a year later. Victory in the 2000 Spanish Cadet Championship, racing as the only female rider, caused the motorsport world to take notice and a host of titles – including seven consecutive Women’s Trial World Championships from 2000 to 2006 – followed.

In total, Sanz has secured 14 FIM Women’s Trial World Championship titles and (as of September 2021) is in contention for her sixth FIM Women’s Enduro World Championship. In addition to her Trial exploits over the past two decades, Sanz achieved a childhood dream in 2011 by making her Dakar Rally debut – finishing in 39th and winning the Female Trophy – and further appearances were crowned by a 9th-place finish in 2015; the best-ever result of a woman in the motorbike class.

Sanz also made her rallycross debut in RX Lites at Barcelona in 2015, while most recently she has been competing in Extreme E alongside World Rally Championship legend Carlos Sainz for the ACCIONA | Sainz XE Team.