The look in Sara Price’s eye said it all. Yes, she would be back. Talking to the American minutes after she’d missed out on a Dakar debut podium was tough. That was January. This is now.
Now she’s a factory Can-Am driver with a former Dakar winner in co-driver Sean Berriman alongside her. She’s ready for part two of her journey on the world’s biggest, baddest off-road event.
Having run with her own team last year, Price is looking forward to focusing more on the racing in January.
“There’s so much more knowledge and experience of this event with Can-Am,” she said. “Last year my little team was great and we absolutely did the best we could with what we had. Now though I have team-mates I can ask for advice, there are people in my corner who have been coming to this event for years and years. In terms of my preparation, it helps that I can focus on getting myself ready rather than worrying about things like the food or the accommodation, things like that.”
Price was an undoubted stand-out star of last year’s Dakar, becoming the first American woman to win a stage, running second and coming so close to a win. A spate of punctures on the last two days dropped her to fourth.
Enjoying the benefit of hindsight, would she take a different approach this time around? There’s a pause. She thinks deeply on that one.
“I don’t know,” she said. “You know, the first thing that comes to mind is that second-to-last day when I went for the win. I threw away my podium there.”
There’s another pause. She’s clearly conflicted. A stellar run through the 380-mile test from Hail to Al Ula left her just 10 minutes off the SSV class leader. For Dakar, that’s touching distance. What was she supposed to do?
“Right,” she agreed. “People have told me, I’m a racer. It’s true, through and through. I did what I’m supposed to do: I went for the win and I wouldn’t change that. Honestly, I don’t regret that, I’d keep the same mindset.
“I guess if there is something to change it would be on the business side – getting a title sponsor would allow me to focus on being an athlete 100% of the time.”
Price’s answers are bang on. Over the moon to be in the Can-Am factory squad, she’s got that elite athlete mentality of always chasing more to make the best better, to turn good great.
Is a class win on the cards this time around? Is there unfinished business?
Sara has unfinished business with the Dakar after coming close to a class win
“A hundred percent,” she smiled. “I did not know what to expect this year, so to be doing so well was awesome. I’m such a competitive athlete, but this is Dakar. I’m going there on my toes and I’m going there with humility and definitely doing everything in my freaking power to make sure I’m going to be the best competitor I can be.”
And Berriman’s going to help bring the best competitor out in Price.
“He’s such a beast,” Price smiled. “He’s just… you know, there are not many people I can seriously look at and be like: ‘You are one gnarly dude!’ He’s such a good mechanic, it’s what he does, but also has this awesome Dakar pedigree.”
And, to top it all, there’s the new Can-Am Maverick R for a race car.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I haven’t tested my actual Dakar car yet, it’s in the process of being homologated with the FIA right now, but the regular version is so good. It’s not belt-driven, it’s sequential, it has so much suspension travel – it’s fantastic. We’re doing Dubai International Baja later this month [in the Maverick R]. I can’t wait.”
Price’s enthusiasm and dedication are infectious. She’s stoked to be stepping up to the works Can-Am buggy for January, but that just shifts her sights higher.
Sara is stepping up to a factory Can-Am for 2025 having raced with her own team this year (pictured)
Now 32, she’s been racing since she was eight. She’s won 19 amateur titles, medalled at the X-Games and became the first woman to win the SCORE International Trophy Truck Spec Championship in 2019. Understanding Trophy Truck success didn’t mean a direct route to Dakar’s premier T1+ class, Price took the step back (performance-wise) to side-by-side racing in 2023. How did that go? She won the Mint400, California 300, Baja 500, Sonora Rally, the Road to Dakar and the Triple Crown Championship.
When it comes to off-road, she’s got it sussed. Which begs the questions of how she ended up driving Will Smith’s boat?
“I got a phone call after Dakar,” she said. “There was a space in a team with a late entry. I was like, ‘Well, I don’t have the money to do the World Rally Raid Championship, so I’m in’. I signed up with Will Smith and, honestly, we killed it. We have such an amazing team.”
The first win came at Lake Como and second in the championship followed.
Sara has nothing but good things to say about Hollywood star Will Smith, who she's raced for in powerboats
Admittedly, Hollywood is nothing new to Price, she’s worked as a stunt professional on films like Jumanji. But come on… Will Smith.
“He’s an amazing person,” she said. “I have nothing but great things to say about him. I got to spend quite a bit of time with him in Italy and he’s just such a cool down to earth guy and so passionate about everything. I was talking Dakar with him and he was saying: ‘That’s so crazy, so hard… you know every little bit of you is going into this thing that’s so difficult and you’re so passionate about it!’
“He gets it and he wants to dig more into Dakar. It’s cool that he knows how hard it is and how much you have to be driven by the heart. He’s a cool guy.”
No arguments here.
