More than a few amazing ladies in the MDC

International Women's Day today. We want to take the opportunity to put the ladies in the Morocco Desert Challenge in the spotlight. Motorsport is traditionally a man's world, but that is changing fast. More and more ladies are showing that they can compete on equal terms when it comes to driving skills and navigation. In the MDC too, we see a nice increase in the number of female participants every edition. And we can only applaud that!

Next month, no fewer than 33 power women will be at the start in Agadir. Earlier, we announced that Anja van Loon will take the wheel of a De Rooij truck. In the truck category, she will compete against, among others, Syndiely Wade, who is once again aiming for victory as navigator alongside Igor Bauwens in the Gregoor team. In the SSV category, we welcome a number of regulars at the start, including Delphine Crosse and Caroline Zosso. Tessa Rooth and Veronique Dard and Miranda van Middendorp will navigate in a 4x4 and Magdalena Zając herself will take the wheel of the Proxcars TME Rally team's Toyota Hilux. Vanessa Ruck joined us last year in Tunisia for her very first rally. Next month she will be the only lady competing in the motorbike category. Respect!

Also in the bivouac, the number of ladies in key positions is rising. Andrea Peterhansel, wife of Mr. Dakar Stephane Peterhansel and no stranger to the world of rallying herself, leads the Yamaha Spirit World Raid team. And she is not the only one! No less than 12 other teams have a female team manager.

Last but not least, we like to mention that within the organisation, more than 40% of the crew members are ladies! We also like to give them a special mention today!