On 14 December, seventeen days before the 2023 Dakar Rally begins, The Checkered Flag spoke with T3 racer Aliyyah Koloc ahead of her début in the race.
This interview was conducted prior to recent developments such as Koloc racing T1 in the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship and sister Yasmeen withdrawing from Dakar.
Below is the full transcript of the interview. Some text has been altered from the actual dialogue to improve readability and remove verbal pauses.
An article summarising the interview can be read here.
Transcript
TCF: It’s been a few weeks since you won the Cross-Country Bajas Middle East Cup. Has it fully sunk in yet that you’re already an FIA champion this early into your career?
AK: It did sink in, especially after going to the FIA ceremony because I’ve been seeing it for a while so actually being there was really cool with all the other champions. Being an FIA champion is pretty nice to hear. It’s a really good feeling.
TCF: How would you describe the awards ceremony?
AK: It was really cool. I saw a lot of people that I watched and I’ve been watching for a while, so to actually see them in person was… I had to relax and not make a fool of myself but I think it went really good and I had a lot of fun and I hope to become champion to go again.
TCF: How special was it to not only win the championship, but to do it in your hometown of Dubai?
AK: Dubai was really difficult. It was one of the hard rallies of the year, but having the last rally in Dubai, my home, was really special for me. I got to celebrate with my team, so it was a really good experience.
TCF: This year’s Dakar route is a lot longer and more challenging than in previous years. Does that add like any sort of pressure for you, especially this being your first time racing it?
AK: I did see Dakar is gonna be more difficult. I’m a little nervous of course, not gonna lie, but it’s gonna be two weeks and a lot of kilometres. I never drove so long, so it’s going to be really interesting to see, but I’m gonna do my best and take it day by day.
TCF: Has racing on pavement like in GT or NASCAR also helped you prepare for it?
AK: In GT racing, everything I would say is faster, so reactions is faster. I think each helps me and makes me overall a more complete driver. I think each car I do, each discipline helps me each way to become an overall better driver.
TCF: Besides racing and testing, is there anything else that you are doing to prepare like physical training or fitness?
AK: I do physical training. I go to the gym and I go to a centre for racing drivers for mental preparation, physical. I do simulator which is mainly for circuit racing but I also do that. I prepare with the guys to learn more about the car because for Dakar, it’s important. That’s about most of my training.
TCF: Is there any sort of differences in how you train for sports cars versus something like Dakar?
AK: Dakar is more endurance I would say and it’s more mental preparation because of how long it is. I hope I’m ready for Dakar. I’ve been training for the past three years for Dakar 2023 so I would say I’m as ready as I can be. Hopefully, my training will pay off. I know there will be some unexpected situations but I’m going to try to cope and adjust as much as possible.
TCF: You’ve been working with your co-driver Stéphane (Duplé) for a while now and he’s raced at Dakar a few times. How important has he been in helping you prepare to race it yourself?
AK: Stéphane is really great. I already had experience with two other co-drivers who was really nice, but Stéphane, we have a really good cooperation. We did two rallies which is not a lot, but so far, we did really good. In Dubai, we had a crash so he’s a really good mechanic so I trust him a lot if we have any situation that we can work together to get out of it. Overall, he’s a really cool guy off the track too so it’s always good to work with good people.
TCF: What other people have been your biggest supports or mentors throughout all this?
AK: My parents, my father, especially in racing because he used to be a racer, and also David Vršecký, he used to be a racer in Buggya and he’s like a brother for me. He’s been teaching me in circuits and off-road so he’s a driver and engineer, so he’s been teaching me all the technical bits so I say he is the biggest mentor for me.
TCF: You and your sister are going to be part of a pretty big group of female racers at Dakar, and there are quite a lot of those racing against you in your class. How does it feel to be part of this growing movement for women in motorsport, especially at a race as big as this?
AK: It’s really great. I’ve been seeing all the names of the girls gonna be racing in Dakar, and I’d say it grew. It’s really good to see. I would like to inspire more younger generations of girls to come to this really great—well, motorsports in general, and it’s good.
TCF: What is your main goal for this Dakar?
AK: The main goal is to finish because it’s the hardest rally in the world and I never raced two weeks with so many kilometres like this. The goal is to finish and the result, we’re going to see what happens.
TCF: Have you and your sister made any bets on who will finish higher than the other? I know some siblings who race together tend to do that.
AK: We never actually talked about making bets on who will get higher, but now that you mention it, maybe we’re going to look into that. [laughs]
TCF: Even though you two are racing against each other, how do you two also support each other throughout this entire process?
AK: We train together and we’ve been in the rallies, we’ve been racing together and we do most of the things together. Obviously, we’re travelling so different schedules but she’s been supporting me in my racing because we do circuits so we just support each other in everything we do and it’s really nice to have.
TCF: Once you’ve gotten Dakar out of the way, what are your plans for 2023? Like do you plan on racing for another Cross-Country championship or returning to NASCAR or anything of the sort?
AK: I think that we’re looking to continue rally in the season. Maybe we’re going to participate in the World but I’m not sure yet. For sure, I’m gonna be continuing GT racing and long endurance and so far, I think that’s the plan but it always changes.
TCF: If we look further into the future, what do you dream of racing in? Would you want to do Dakar in T1 or are there any other major races you’re willing to try, like in sports cars or something else?
AK: I would like to do Dakar again, for sure—well, I’ve never done it, but I’d like to do Dakar in a T1. That’s the big goal. My big motorsport goal is to reach the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit. Those are my two goals.
AS (Alexandra Schieren, moderator): I was wondering, Justin, if you knew about Aliyyah’s background and how she got into motorsport because that’s a very unusual story. I’ll let Aliyyah tell the story because she wasn’t like planning on doing motorsports.
AK: Okay, why not? [chuckles]
How I got into motorsport. First, I played tennis at four years old for ten years until I got an injury. 2019 beginning, I was with my father going with him for meetings and testing and then joined one of the test teams and decided to try driving it. I started with a big truck and since then, we said it was good and we continued from there. That’s how I started.
TCF: Even though those are completely different sports, do you feel that there is anything you might have picked up from tennis that you could probably also apply to racing?
AK: I would say tennis is a very disciplined sport. It’s very physically demanding. So I would say how in tennis, you need to work very hard, and I would say that helped me come into motorsport.
TCF: That makes sense.
