The twin sisters’ shattered dream

The Dakar, that’s the vagabond among the big motorsport events. The name comes from the first edition of the rally in 1979, which led from Paris to Dakar and became a legend. For a long time, it took a wide variety of routes across the African continent at the beginning of each year. Until the adventure there in 2008 became too unsafe and the whole entourage was relocated to South America.

But the money is somewhere else, as is so often the case in today’s professional sport – that’s why the race was held in Saudi Arabia for the first time three years ago. The 45th Dakar, which runs from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf, begins with the prologue on Saturday. 8,549 kilometers, more than half of which are special stages, that’s a marathon at sprint pace.

In addition to the risk on the route across deep sand, there was a bomb attack on the driver Philippe Boutron last year, which is classified as an act of terrorism. Dark events from the past are always part of the Dakar, over the years there have been a total of 70 deaths among spectators, participants and organizers. The controversial rally is a wild thing, and not just for the sake of the pun.

The “Dakar Sistaz” and its colorful family history

Is this a world only 18-year-old twin sisters should venture into to fulfill their sporting dreams? Aliyyah and Yasmeen Koloc can keep up with the Dakar from a purely cosmopolitan perspective: born in Dubai, their mother is from the Seychelles, their father is Czech with roots in the South Seas. They are traveling with a license from the United Arab Emirates – and under the self-chosen keyword “Dakar Sistaz”. So that they are not mistaken for a rapper duo, the addition “Racer” is in the social networks.

It is a frenzied emancipation in many respects that drives the two of them. The Dakar 2023 should be a starting point, as the youngest siblings in history, they wanted to contest the rally. Women from Saudi Arabia like Dania Akeel are also at the start and are often cited by the hosts as an example of the opening up of the strict country. The political mission of the Kolocs is different, however, they fight above all for respect and diversity, which can also be read in large letters on their caps.

Two years ago, the young drivers were racist and sexist insulted by a Czech truck driver as onlookers at the start of a stage of the Dakar. The sisters, then just 16 years old, found it “pathetic and humiliating”. So they joined the movement “Peace and Sport” with, for which the footballer Lionel Messi is also active.

They don’t want to be seen as “mere pieces of meat.”

My own bad experience still runs deep: “We want to race, we want to compete fairly and we want to improve. But we also feel that some competitors see us as mere pieces of meat.”

The two got into the macho world of motorsport through their father, who is not only a clever businessman but also a successful truck racer – and one of the motorsport idols in the Czech Republic. He is also the team leader of Buggyra ZM Racing and at the Dakar with two of the special rally cars that look like brightly colored, over-engineered amphibious vehicles as they plowed through the dunes, throwing up high fountains of sand.

A buggy for each daughter, that’s the plan. But only start number 344 with Aliyyah Koloc will compete in the prologue at Sea Camp. Yasmeen Koloc had to declare a forfait at Christmas – a wrist injury that has not healed forces her to retire.

The retreat brings back bitter memories. With the aim of the next Williams sisters the two had started making tennis their purpose in life at the age of 4. They quickly reached the highest European youth level, but then got injured back-to-back at 14 and 15.

But the ambition remained – and with it the desire for a new field of activity. Father Koloc, who describes his daughters as fighters, uses a proverb from the USA: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade out of them.” And adds: “A lot of lemonade is drunk in our house.”

Four years ago, at a winter training session for truck racers, Aliyyah accompanied her father and, just for fun, drove one of the five-tonne sports vehicles herself. She was quick right off the bat. So fast that she set a speed record in this class in autumn 2019. The path to touring cars soon followed, then to rally vehicles.

And the sister Yasmeen also liked working behind the wheel, there is probably a motorsport gene in the family. So they tried their way through many junior series, from the Clio to CanAm and EuroNascar. A steep climb that would have taken much longer and been far more expensive in a formula series.

Aliyyah Koloc became the table lady of the world association president Mohammed bin Sulayem

But again and again the terrain lured her, the asphalt missions were only supposed to be training for the big idea: “The road to Dakar”. All starts were aimed at the big goal at the end of the year, until Yasmeen Koloc seriously injured his hand in an accident. The sister Aliyyah, on the other hand, excelled despite her inexperience in the rally classification of the Middle East Championship and won the title in her class. Mohammed bin Sulayem, President of the World Automobile Association, once drove in the same category. At the award ceremony, he promptly chose Aliyyah Koloc as the table lady.

Aliyyah Koloc sees the fact that the circuit series is faster than the difficult desert sand terrain as an advantage. This allowed her to improve responsiveness. She also takes her condition with her from her tennis past, which helped her when she got into motorsport. But she also has great respect for the task at the Dakar. She says: «I have never completed a competition for more than two weeks. That’s why the most important thing is to be mentally ready.”

For her debut in the T3 class, it’s all about crossing the finish line. That’s going to be difficult enough. Technical problems arose in the first stage, and Koloc suffered two flat feet in the second stage. After three stages, she is in 36th place in her category among 45 classifieds.

German rally driver Jutta Kleinschmidt was the first and only woman to win an overall Dakar in 2001, but the number of women on the grid continues to grow. In her vehicle class alone, Aliyyah Koloc has to deal with six competitors, two of whom also have co-drivers.

A 65-year veteran replaces the twin sister

Aliyyah Koloc is assisted by an experienced co-driver, Frenchman Stéphane Duplé. After an accident at her home rally in Dubai, she discovered an important ability in him: “He’s also a pretty good mechanic.” In the car that was intended for her sister, Josef Machachek is now a 65-year-old veteran who comes to his 20th Dakar outing as a complete surprise. He was only intended to coach the two sisters.

“Rallying,” says Yasmeen Koloc, “is also an emotional roller coaster.” And posts defiantly from a gym: “This gives me a year more to prepare for the next Dakar.”