Molly Taylor is eager for another shot at the Dakar Rally after becoming the first Australian woman to compete in it this past year. On Wednesday, she announced she will return to the event for 2023, once again driving a Can-Am Maverick SSV for Can-Am Factory South Racing with Dale Moscatt as co-driver. Prior to Dakar, she will also compete in the Rallye du Maroc in October for the first time.
“I’m so excited to be heading back into the desert and taking on Dakar again as well as Rallye Du Maroc as part of my ongoing partnership with the Can-Am Factory South Racing team,” Taylor stated.
The 2016 Australian Rally Champion first made the jump to rally raid in 2021 at Baja Aragón with Can-Am, where she finished fifth in the T4 (SSV) class, followed by a ninth at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Both starts, as well as a three-race stint in the World Rally Championship, were side adventures to her main and successful pursuit of the inaugural Extreme E Championship.
Less than a month after securing the 2021 XE title with Rosberg X Racing, she made her Dakar début by placing fourteenth in the SSV category with a best stage finish of sixth in the ninth leg.
RXR did not retain Taylor for the 2022 XE season, but she returned to Saudi Arabia—where the Dakar Rally takes place—for the season opener on a one-race deal with JBXE and was classified ninth. While not competing for a major championship, she has spent the year carrying out ambassadorial duties for Subaru Australia and supporting Can-Am Factory South Racing at events like the Vegas to Reno.
South Racing CEO Scott Abraham called Taylor “an integral part of the team and with one Dakar under her belt and the team’s ongoing support, I can’t wait to see what she can do in the desert come 1 January.”
The Rallye du Maroc is scheduled for 1–10 October, while Dakar will begin on 31 December 2022 and run through 15 January 2023.