Cristina Gutiérrez

Cristina Gutiérrez Herrero (born 24 July 1991) is a Spanish dentist and rally raid driver.

Gutiérrez became the first Spanish female car driver to finish the Dakar Rally in 2017. In 2021 she was the second woman to win a stage in Dakar Rally history. She won the 2024 edition in the T3 category.

In 2021, Gutiérrez won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies in the T3 category, becoming the first-ever female driver to claim it.

In 2022, Gutiérrez won the Extreme E electric cross-country series alongside Sébastien Loeb for Lewis Hamilton's Team X44, making her the first Spaniard to ever win it.

Racing career

Early career Gutiérrez debuted in rally raid in 2010 at age eighteen. She was overall runner-up at the 2015 Spanish Off-Road Rally Championship.

Dakar Rally Gutiérrez debuted her international rally career in the 2017 Dakar Rally, racing in a modified Mitsubishi Pajero. Gutiérrez's first race was a success. She finished 44th overall and sixth in the T1.S class, in a race where 27% of class entrants did not manage to complete the course. In 2018, she finished second in the T1.S class, again driving a Mitsubishi Montero. The Spaniard finished seventh in the T1.2 class in 2019 and 2020, both driving a Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross.

In the 2021 Dakar Rally, Gutiérrez competed in the T3.1 lightweight vehicles category on an OT3-01. She became only the second woman ever (after Jutta Kleinschmidt in 2005) to win a Dakar stage, however she retired in stage 8.

In the 2022 Dakar Rally, Gutiérrez was the first Spanish woman to reach the podium of the Dakar Rally, when she and co-driver François Cazalet finished third in the Light Prototype (T3) category driving a Red Bull OT3 prototype.

In the 2023 Dakar Rally, Gutiérrez finished in fourth position in the T3 category, after having many issues in the first week that prevented her from fighting for the victory. Nonetheless, she won the prologue stage and the last stage, being the only woman ever do it so after Jutta Kleinschmidt.

In the 2024 Dakar Rally, Gutiérrez claimed the win in the Challenger category (formerly known as T3), as she profited from a late issue for leader Mitch Guthrie. She became the second woman in history to achieve this feat, following Jutta Kleinschmidt's victory in 2001. She is also the first Spanish woman to ever win at the Dakar Rally.

Extreme E In December 2020, Gutiérrez was announced as the female driver for Lewis Hamilton's Team X44 in Extreme E, partnering with Sébastien Loeb. They finished the season in 2nd behind Rosberg X Racing's Johan Kristoffersson and Molly Taylor. The teams were level on points but RXR were ahead on virtue of their 3 wins to X44's one win.

Loeb and Gutiérrez were re-signed to Team X44 for 2022, for Extreme-E's second season. Team X44, with Gutiérrez and Loeb, ended up winning the second season of Extreme-E championship in the last race.

Gutiérrez moved to McLaren XE for 2024 and will partner Mattias Ekström. On September 6, a week before the scheduled Island X-Prix, Extreme E announced that the rounds in Sardinia and Phoenix were cancelled as it said it was “reviewing alternative solutions” to finish the season.

Other series Gutiérrez has also been her country's Women's Off-Road Champion since 2012, and outright vice-champion in the same discipline in 2015 following a series of second places in Spanish Bajas.

In 2021, Gutiérrez became the first female driver to win an FIA World Cup for the Cross-Country Rallies title. She completed the last stage with a broken back.

Racing record

Dakar Rally Year Class Vehicle Position Stages won 2017 Cars Mitsubishi 44th 0 2018 38th 0 2019 26th 0 2020 42nd 02021 T3 OT3 DNF 3 2022 3rd 0 2023 Can-Am 4th 2 2024 Taurus 1st 1 2025 Cars Dacia 40th 0 2026 11th 0

Complete Extreme E results (key) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 2021 Team X44 Spark ODYSSEY 21 DESQ DESR OCEQ OCER ARCQ ARCR ISLQ ISLR JURQ JURR 2nd 2022 X44 Vida Carbon Racing Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES ISL1 ISL2 COP ENE 1st 2023 X44 Vida Carbon Racing Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES1 DES2 HYD1 HYD2 ISL11 ISL12 ISL21 ISL22 COP1 COP2 4th 2024 Neom McLaren Extreme E Team Spark ODYSSEY 21 DES1 DES2 HYD1 HYD2 ISL11 ISL12 ISL21 ISL22 VAL1 VAL2 5th 46 † Season abandoned.

Complete World Rally-Raid Championship results (key) Season still in progress.