She’s blonde, attractive, enthusiastic, determined….and rides a motorbike in extreme endurance events. Meet Annie Seel, Sweden’s Rally Princess who is coming to Australia for the first time to compete in the Australasian Safari, the Dakar rally of the South.
Annie competed in, and completed, the 2009 Dakar in South America – the latest in her long list of extreme motorsport achievements – and is now ready to take on the challenges the Australian outback will throw at her.
Annie said she was not scared of the challenge. Riding a Husaberg 2009 FE570 rallye bike with the Husaberg Rallye Racing team.
“I think it will be similar to the Dakar stages I did in Argentina - fast and dusty. Considering we’ll be covering 4000 kilometres in just a week, I’ll need to keep my pace up.”
Annie got into motorcycle racing at the tender age of 16, having loved to watch horse racing at a neighboring racetrack. More than twenty years and almost twenty broken bones on, her thirst for the challenge and desire to win has not slowed.
“My father who died when I was sixteen gave me a taste for mechanical things and my mother had exceptionally strong will power.
“When I broke my hand during the 2002 Dakar, I held on till the end. My left leg had gone blue all over. I’ll admit, though, that I’ve always been lucky enough to have injuries that didn’t prevent me from finishing the race… When I run into a problem, a shriek a bit and then I carry on! “
Annie has competed in cross country rallies around the world – Dubai, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Argentina and Chile. In 2004 Annie won the FIM World Rallye Championship as the top female rider. …and she will soon be adding Western Australia to this impressive list.
Annie said her ultimate dream was to make the ‘perfect race’. “Although in off-road racing the perfect race is almost never achieved. But if I succeed in this I would be top 10 in Australia!
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