Which woman won the Dakar Rally overall car category in 2001?

Jutta Kleinschmidt won the Dakar Rally’s overall car category in 2001.

Her victory was historic because she became the first woman to win the Dakar overall. Kleinschmidt drove a Mitsubishi and shared the winning car with co-driver Andreas Schulz, completing the demanding Paris–Dakar route across Africa. She remains the only woman to have won the event’s overall classification.

Kleinschmidt’s path to the result was unusual even by Dakar standards. She first entered the rally in 1988 on a motorcycle before switching to cars. During her car career with the Schlesser team, she became the first woman to win a Dakar special stage, establishing herself as a serious contender rather than merely a symbolic entrant.

The 2001 result is sometimes confused with a class victory or a stage win. This was the overall car victory, the event’s premier automobile classification. Her triumph also made her the only German driver to win the Dakar car category, while the rally itself was completing its final traditional Paris–Dakar edition.