She has been thinking about it for 12 years. Her uncle, a mechanic in her native Tuscany had her cleaning the spark plugs in her car. “I never got dirty”, she says laughingly. “I was fascinated by engine noise”.

It runs through Carmélia Liparoti’s veins. This petite lady’s passion is the quad; she seeks adventure and has dreamed about the Dakar for quite awhile.” I have covered the rally three times as a journalist”. These elements came into focus for the photographer. Camélia has had this challenge in the back of her mind since she decided to return but on the other side of the lens as a competitor. “I want to be the first woman to reach Dakar on a quad”.

Since discovering the rally she has prepared to take it on. In the three years she has amassed experience on raid adventures on every continent. Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco, Russia, Finland, Canada even Madagascar were all stops along the way. Colleague and past Dakar competitor, Francis Guérand is lending Carmélia a hand. He too ran a quad on the Dakar. He acted as a “Sherpa” over the entire rally distance.

The Italian lady lives in Chamonix, France and at home skiing is her first love. “Skiing… the lines and slopes are a great to learn more about riding a quad. It’s all about sliding which is also how you attack a valley of dunes.” Luc Alphand, her ‘Godfather, on the Dakar wouldn’t disagree.