South African rally driver Puck Klaassen has just made Dakar Rally history after winning Stage 3 in the Challenger category. She’s the fifth woman ever to win a stage at the world’s toughest motorsport event!
Yanbu, Saudi Arabia (08 January 2026) – The Dakar Rally has confirmed that with her Challenger win, Stellenbosch’s Puck Klaassen now joins an elite list of women champions that includes Germany’s Jutta Kleinschmidt, Spain’s Cristina Gutiérrez, America’s Sara Price and Saudi Arabia’s Dania Akeel.
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At just 22 years old, Klaassen’s Stage 3 victory, achieved alongside Argentinian navigator Augusto Sanz, marks a milestone in her career and in the long and demanding history of the Dakar, which is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia.
While Klaassen’s family originates from the Netherlands, she grew up in South Africa, where her father, Sebastiaan, owns a vineyard.
Motorsport has been part of her life from a young age. She raced motorbikes and go-karts as a child, spent seven years focused on show jumping, and later turned to motocross before a leg injury made her switch to four wheels.
Her Dakar journey has been strong and steady – that’s what wins the race. She made her debut at Dakar Classic in 2024 alongside her father (see below), before stepping up to the Challenger class in 2025 with the G Rally Team OT3. Despite inevitable challenges that came with Dakar last year, she persevered.
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The learning curve continued through the World Rally-Raid Championship, where Klaassen competed across the season and finished on the podium at the final round in Morocco. She also took part in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge in 2024, finishing eighth in the Challenger category…an early sign of what was to come!
“Last year’s route was extremely tough, and the Dakar 2026 route looks just as incredible, challenging and technical. It definitely won’t be easy, which is what makes it so exciting,” said Puck ahead of this year’s rally. “This season has been a big year of learning and development with the team. We’ve grown a lot and ended the season with our first W2RC podium and stage win, which gives us huge confidence going into Dakar 2026.”
Now competing in her third Dakar, Klaassen’s Stage 3 win makes history.
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Hard work pays off. Her grind has been consistent behind the scenes, including helping develop a new concept vehicle designed by KTM and adapted for Dakar competition by the G-Rally team.
“Such a rewarding feeling to have our first Dakar stage win!! Pushed hard the last two days to move up some positions, so really happy with how everything went. Was a long stage with many tricky sections, but we managed to have a clean day.” shared Klaassen.
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