Camelia Liparoti makes history!

Winner in the women’s quad and motorcycle class, Camelia Liparoti has gone down in the Dakar’s annals once more. It is the first time in Dakar history that a quad has crossed the finish line ahead of the motorcycles. She was able to savour the moment yesterday on the final podium at Santiago de Chile, surrounded by her team and representatives of Yamaha. Her achievement is all the greater as she left the double Enduro and Trial World Champion, Laia Sanz, in her wake.

The Dakar is always full of surprises and so is Camelia…After two weeks of intense racing, the memories and emotions are still very fresh. It was a southbound Dakar with the Pacific Ocean to the right and the dunes to the left. Just after the rest day, the riders attacked the longest Special of the Rally, covering almost 600 kms, an extreme test for both rider and machine. You had to keep on managing your efforts, your endurance and your mind. The trail snakes over stony Enduro or WRC style terrain and you can never afford to lose your concentration for a second. The next Special towards Cordoba was all twists and turns. Over these two very fast Specials on hard ground with lots of pebbles, the riders had to be really vigilant at all times. You can’t afford to stop, not even for five minutes for a minor problem, otherwise you are immediately overtaken by a dozen other riders and the price is paid in cash on the leader board.

The new Maxxis tyres are a real asset in the stones, and no one blew a tyre during the race. The standard in quad was very high this year with some brilliant new riders who made their mark. There was a bit of sand, too, in the second week of the race, which brought difficulties of its own. However, there was not much Fesh-Fesh, so the pace was unrelentingly fast. The steep downhill stretches got the adrenaline flowing, and when you see “Danger 4” in the road book your heart beats that bit harder…“Once I found myself top of the leader board in women’s quad and motorcycle, I changed my strategy. I was absolutely determined to finish the race and keep this historic first place. As a result, I took my foot off the gas a little and focused on managing my lead until we got to Santiago de Chile. My Yamaha Raptor 700 cm3 worked perfectly from start to finish. Without an engine change, my machine ate up over 8500 kilometres without any problem whatsoever.”

Camelia’s record in this event is impressive. She has successfully finished five times, she was the first woman to get into the top 10 in quad, and she is the first quad to be women’s overall winner. The bar has now been placed very high. What can Camelia pull out of the bag in the 2014 Dakar?

The website quadssmag.com is a summary of everything which gives a sense to Camelia's Liparoti life. " During the last ten years, I have travelled a lot, traversing the World, I have had the fortune to make some great meetings and this is all the wealth that I want to share with everyone. Travelling does not make sense if we are not able to encourage others to travel, give them tips, suggestions on how to find the beautiful trails and for the way to arrive to the very magical places... " explains Camelia. A tireless worker, setting the bar high for her ambitions, Camelia and her small team have been working for months on QUADSSVMAG.COM on which she gives an insight.

"This website does not compare to other existing quads and ssv websites. Quadssvmag.com has a very strong identity thanks to a very evident iconography, photos and videos. The website talks about quad ssv travels, adventures, discoveries, excursions, also competitions, in small doses, with the Dakar being the climax.

Find more information relating to quadsssvmag, and quad here.