At just 20 years old, Seychellois rally driver Aliyyah Koloc is stealing the spotlight at the 2025 Taklimakan Rally, proving that age is just a number when you’ve got grit and a killer Buggyra Racing machine. Currently sitting 11th overall after Stage 5, Koloc has battled everything from sandstorms to mechanical gremlins in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region — and she’s loving every minute of it. 🌪️
‘This desert stage was pure adrenaline!’ Koloc told Sports Scene, grinning through dust-streaked goggles. Despite a fuel pressure hiccup, she called the 287km sprint her ‘favorite yet,’ blending high-speed straights with heart-pounding dune jumps. But her real MVP moment? Stopping mid-race to check on a crashed competitor. ‘It’s about more than rankings,’ she said. ‘We’re all in this together.’ 🤝
Xinjiang’s otherworldly landscapes have left the young driver awestruck: ‘The mountains, the canyons… it’s like racing through a painting.’ Local fans’ roaring cheers surprised her most — ‘I’ve never felt energy like this!’ 🎉
Fun fact: Koloc was a tennis prodigy before a career-ending injury at 15 flipped her script. Inspired by her racer dad Martin, she swapped rackets for rally cars. Now, as Buggyra’s youngest star, she’s rewriting desert racing rules. ‘My engineer’s the wizard keeping this car alive,’ she laughed, patting her battle-tested machine.
With five stages left, Koloc’s eyes are on the prize — and Xinjiang’s horizons. ‘Every dune teaches me something new,’ she mused. From Dakar rookie at 18 to Taklimakan trailblazer, her story’s fueling a new generation of speed demons. 🏁
