Interview and video by Laia Sanz

29/08/2011
Trialworld

Laia Sanz has been winning the Women’s Trial World Championship since 2000, in which she has only missed out on one occasion. She has already won eleven World Championships, as well as ten European Championship titles, after more than a decade performing at the highest level in the elite of the specialty.

[El video de la carrera donde se proclamó Campeona 2011 está al final del artículo]

Dream weekend: European and World Champion…

“The truth is that yes, it went very well and I couldn’t ask for more. They were the two big goals of the year and I achieved them on the same weekend, so it was perfect.”

You don’t have enough fingers on your hands to count the World Cups. Have you ever dreamed of winning so many titles?

“No, not at all. I would never have imagined it. When I started doing trials it was as a hobby and I didn’t even imagine being able to dedicate myself to it. But I’ve been able to make a living from it and on top of that I’ve won all these World Cups, something I would never have imagined.”

The rivals change, some withdraw and new ones arrive, but none of them manage to catch you. How is the level in the competition?

“I think over the years it’s gotten a lot better. It has raised the level and that has also forced me to improve. At first it was Iris Krämer and me, both of us very far from the others. On the other hand, now I do think that there are maybe four or five riders who have a higher level. In general it has gone up and above all you see a lot more girls running, which is very good for competition.”

With most tests running at zero, do you think the zones should be harder?

“It’s true that you usually suffer a little, because they put few difficult areas in a trial and the psychological issue comes into play, knowing how to withstand the pressure and not fail. But obviously you always think that a mistake can be made by everyone, as happened to me in 2007, and you can lose a World Cup because of something silly. On the other hand, a day like yesterday, when there were two or three areas in which to make a difference, makes it a more complicated test than normal, and that’s what I like. It’s what we have to do and in easy trials we have to know how to withstand the pressure and not fail”.

Being the World Champion, do you feel like you have more pressure, a bigger obligation to win?

“Part of it is like that, because everyone gives you as a winner before you go out to compete, and this is not the case. You have to run and you have to win. The fact that I’ve won so many times does make it feel like I have a lot more to lose than not to win, so it’s true that I have that extra pressure on my rivals, but I see it as a good thing. Continuing to win encourages me to stay motivated and want to work harder.”

With eleven World Championships and ten European titles, it’s impossible not to compare your results with those of the boys. How do you see yourself against them?

“I look good. I do some races in the Junior World Championship that are going very well for me, in which I have achieved good results running with the boys. Above all, they help me to stay in shape, because they are physically hard. Also to have motivation to train and try difficult things. I think that’s the secret to getting to the level I have.”

What’s your next challenge?

“The first thing is to see what happens in the 2012 Dakar, a season in which the goal will be to win the European and World Trial Championships again, a very important goal as always.”

How do you see Toni Bou in this edition of the World Cup?

“It’s clear that everyone who sees and understands a bit of trial knows that Toni [Bou] is far superior to the rest of the riders. He’s on another level and I think he’ll last for many years, because he has a technique and a way of riding a motorcycle that no one else has. It’s clear that this year, Adam [Raga] has been very strong and has fought a lot, but I think Toni is far superior to all his rivals.”

Biography of Laia Sanz

Laia Sanz has been riding a motorcycle for more than twenty years and her extensive track record attests to this. He began to come into contact with two wheels when he was only four years old in the surroundings of his home, in Corbera de Llobregat (Barcelona). At that moment he decided to pour all his energy into a sport with an almost absolute presence of men, although at the age of twelve he already achieved his first victory, which quickly caught the attention of fans and connoisseurs of this sport

In 1992 he competed for the first time and in 1997 he stood on the top step of a podium for the first time. From that moment on, Laia’s progression has been constant, as evidenced by her eleven women’s Trial world titles, seven consecutive between 2000 and 2006, and those achieved in the last four years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011). She made her debut in the Repsol Montesa-HRC team in the 2004 season and since then, Laia has achieved everything there is to gain in the women’s category. Today, his goals are already set on achieving good classifications in the senior categories, thanks to the support he receives at all times from his teammates Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami.

Ambitious and adventurous, since she was a child the Repsol rider had dreamed of going beyond the world of trials and entering the tracks and deserts that make up one of the toughest races in the world: the Dakar. After a year of intense preparation with an expert like Jordi Arcarons, in 2011 Laia set out to make her dream come true and discover first-hand the magic of the mythical race that every beginning of the year covers ten thousand kilometres of tracks and deserts, drawing a mythical race.

His performance in the South American event was simply superb. In her first experience in the toughest race in the world, Laia arrived in Buenos Aires with hardly any mistakes, in one piece and with the victory in the women’s category. Undoubtedly, a completely admirable result for this woman who has no limits.

Continuous effort, hard work and an increasingly refined technique allow him to face each year with the maximum ambitions of continuing to achieve all his sporting goals. She is always ready to continue breaking records in the women’s category and put the male competitors in more than one bind. Between races, in the little free time she has left between competitions, Laia enjoys the company of her family, music and sport in general.

Sporting career

1999

3rd Spanish and Catalan Trial Championships in the Cadet category

2000

Spanish Women’s Trial Champion in the Cadet category

Women’s Trial World Champion (FIM Cup)

European Women’s Trial Runner-Up

Team victory at the Women’s Trial of Nations

2001

Women’s Trial World Champion (FIM Cup)

Second place in the team at the Women’s Trial of Nations

European Women’s Trial Runner-Up

2002

3rd Spanish Junior Trial Championship

Women’s European Trial Champion

Women’s Trial World Champion (FIM Cup)

Team victory at the Women’s Trial of Nations

2003

11th Junior Trial World Championship (without having competed in the first four rounds and being the only female participant)

5th Spanish Senior B Championship (only girl participant)

European Women’s Trial Champion with victory in all the races held

Women’s Trial World Champion

Winner of the Senior category in the Two Days of Parenting of Trial (only girl participating)

2004

5th World Cup in the Junior category

Women’s European Trial Champion

Women’s Trial World Champion

2005

4th World Cup in the Junior category

Women’s European Trial Champion

Women’s Trial World Champion

2006

Women’s European Trial Champion

Women’s Trial World Champion

2007