Dakar Rally is one of the world's toughest motor races. Since the late seventies, the globe's best rally drivers have competed in the off road durance event from Paris to Dhaka, the capital of Senegal. The race takes place across ten thousand kilometers of rough terrain and the vehicles can range from motorcycles to trucks. But prior to two thousand and one, Dhaka had only seen male champions. The world of motorsport has long been dominated by men, but one woman named
Yuta Kleinschmidt was determined to shake things up a bit. Hey, I'm Tony Armstrong and welcome to the Pool Roup, where we celebrate the winners, losers and the weird stuff between. Yuta Kleinschmidt wasn't always a racing driver, which is remarkable when you consider the fact that most people in motorsport start from a very early age. Yota just wasn't the go kart racing type, but growing up in Germany, she
did have an inclination for extreme sports. Yuta studied physics at university, which led to a job with BMW where she worked as a development engineer. This is where her love of racing eventually emerged. She quit that job to start racing full time, and the motorsport world did not see her coming. Yota's first season of Dhaka was nineteen eighty eight, and she initially competed in the motorcycle class.
That first year wasn't a great start, as she was forced to retire set out the next three editions before returning in nineteen ninety two. Then ninety four, Yuta placed twenty third and twenty second respectively, which was pretty good considering over one hundred bikes competing in those races. In nineteen ninety five, Yuta switched from racing motorbikes to cars, and this is where her career began to pick up speed.
The next four consecutive seasons were patchy, including a retirement in ninety six, before recording her highest finished thus far fifth in nineteen ninety seven. She also became the first woman to win a stage of the prestigious race. Then, for the nineteen ninety nine Daka rally, Yuta and her co driver Tina Turna finished third. They became the first women to stand on the Dakar podium, putting the racing
world on notice. Yuta and Tina returned to the track the following year, where they were less successful, finishing fifth. This was the end of their partnership. In two thousand and one, You're To teamed up with a new co driver, a fellow German named Andreas Schultz, driving a Mitzubishi Pajerro. The pair lined up for the start of the race on the first of January in Paris. They were one of one hundred and thirteen vehicles in the car category, and come the end of the race, less than half
would remain. Across twenty grueling stages, the competitors sped through varied terrain, from the cobblestones of France to the deserts of the African continent. The main battle was between the Mitsubishi Pajero's and the Schlesser buggies. Mitsubishi had their rival out numbered on the grid six vehicles to three, but Jean Louis Schlesser was a two time winner of Dakka and the favorite to take the title in two thousand
and one. Jean Louise had been building his own jumbuggy since the early nineties with great success, but he was about to get awake up, Yuta and Andrea's managed to overtake Schlesser in the final stages to stun the racing world. Yuta Kleinschmidt became the first woman to win the Dakar Rally, writing her name into the history books once more. Uta competed in Dakar for six more years, backing up a two thousand and one title by finishing second the next year.
She featured in the event seventeen times, with six finishes in the top five and four podiums. Her engineering background saw the development of race winning vehicles in Dakar, and her two thousand and one triumph has inspired young girls and women everywhere who dare to dream. She remains the only German to win the Dakar in the car category and will forever be known as a motor racing legend. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Pool Room
and iHeart production. I'm Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon. Catch U.