At the midpoint of the 2025 Taklimakan Rally, 20-year-old Aliyyah Koloc of Seychelles stands 11th overall after five grueling stages. Competing in her debut rally with the Buggyra Racing team, Koloc has faced mechanical setbacks and the desert’s fierce terrain with unwavering resolve.
Stage 5’s 287-kilometer stretch, peppered with fast sections and daunting dunes, emerged as her favorite. Despite a fuel pressure glitch, she pushed on. “It was quite fast, and we did have some dune sections, so it was really intense — I had a lot of fun,” she said, embodying the rally’s spirit of speed and adventure.
Her resilience shone beyond her lap times. Mid-race, Koloc paused to assist a fellow competitor who had crashed, demonstrating true sportsmanship. “I felt like stopping to check was the human thing to do. He was OK,” she recalled, underscoring the camaraderie that defines desert rallying.
Koloc’s journey to motorsport began at 15, after a tennis injury steered her toward the family legacy of racing. Inspired by her father, former racer Martin Koloc, she made her Dakar Rally debut at 18. Now, with expert engineers fine-tuning her buggy for extreme heat and shifting sands, she’s ready to tackle whatever the desert throws her way.
Beyond the competition, Koloc has been awed by the landscapes and the hospitality in the Chinese mainland’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. “Everyone here is so passionate about the rally — it’s incredible. I’m thrilled to be here and meet the locals,” she said, highlighting the global heartbeat of motorsport.
With five stages remaining, Koloc aims to climb the leaderboard while soaking in the region’s majesty. As Buggyra Racing’s youngest star, her story resonates as a testament to grit, growth, and the universal language of speed.
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Aliyyah Koloc reflects on grit, growth, and Xinjiang's majesty
cgtn.com
