Carla Rau, by profession, facilitator

As she loved pastry, she studied Hospitality to be a pastry chef.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
27 December 2022 Tuesday 03:33
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Carla Rau, by profession, facilitator

As she loved pastry, she studied Hospitality to be a pastry chef. But she didn't want to work on weekends and she decided to be a massage therapist. "But I'm scattered" and she went to work as an administrator at a driving school. Later, she was a clerk in a competition clothing store. And she ended up rescued by the Dakarian Rafa Tibau to act as a "pharmacy salesperson", with the intention of "working in rallies". And that's how Carla Rau (Barcelona, ​​32 years old) found her place in the world: the Dakar. "It's a dream."

So, by profession... "Put logistics and coordination", says Carla with the same determination with which she won the position that she will have in this Dakar in the Bahrain Racing Xtreme (BRX) team of the English structure Prodrive, one of the most powerful structures in the rally. "It's like playing for Barça."

To reach a great Dakar, before Rau had to harden from the base. His first little job in the rally was, in 2019, registering 36 Chinese who had hired the services of the Tibau team. “So, straight away. He had their passports, their vehicles, his contacts, and he had to do the administrative paperwork ”.

It was his gateway to the Dakar. Although the esteem for the competition came from afar. “My father and grandfather were very fond of SUVs. We were going to Morocco with our vehicles, and that's how you get the racing bug. That's where my hobby comes from. As a child, every Christmas I watched the Dakar on TV. I remember Marc Coma, Nani Roma, Ferreti and Monleón…”

After that first Chinese job, Rau immersed himself in the organizational tasks of the rallies with the Tibau team. He prepared the logistics of the rally in Morocco (which included organizing the transport of material, customs), and that is how he met the Prodrive managers, who were new to rally-raids and hired the Caldes team for assistance. .

The first Dakar on site for Rau was in 2022, organizing the logistics of the Tibau classic team with seven vehicles. At the end of the rally she was left without a job, but the unemployment did not last long because after a few weeks she was contacted by Alan McGuinness from Prodrive. “When BRX signed me I wanted to die”, says Carla, seeing the size of a structure with four Hunters driven by Sébastien Loeb, Guerlain Chichérit, Orly Terranova and Vaidotas Zala (who replaced Nani Roma).

"I suppose they saw me as smart, resourceful and very proactive," says Rau, almost apologizing for the fact that a team as demanding as Prodrive has signed her up for the Dakar. Her work at BRX consists of coordinating the eight motorhomes that go to Arabia. She has taken care of hiring and providing the vehicles (with cutlery, bedding, facilities, food) and keeping the documentation up to date.

In the day-to-day of the rally, Rau has to supervise the cleaning of the motorhomes, he shares the driving of one with a driver, acts as an alarm clock and as an assistant... In other words, "no one lacks anything" . And each pilot has his peculiarities. “The Newfoundland likes the Aquarius; Well, I take them in the motorhome so they don't miss them”. It is what has captivated McGuinness, that Rau makes things easier, he achieves what is needed: a chair for when the special is over, a coffee, a towel or a cold soda. “Sometimes I have to act as a stewardess – he admits – but I like it, it makes me happy if I see that they remain calm. If I can make life easier, I try. I try that whoever is next to me is calm and at ease. I'm a facilitator."

To carry out this work, Rau considers that it is necessary to "have patience, because there are moments of tension and you can get a snort". And also “to be decisive, attentive, that nothing is missing, and to have a good character. My advantage is that I am nice and with that I get where I want ”, although she has a fair amount of languages, since she only speaks Spanish and Catalan, she understands but does not speak French and she is learning English. "It's all attitude."

But how does a woman manage in such a masculine world? “I have not noticed any difference in the team, where we are three women out of 60 men. You have to adapt. A lot depends on your attitude: you know where you are going, 200 women before 3,000 men. You already know what's up. But they have always treated me super well, I never heard any ugly comments.

For Rau, working on the Dakar "is a dream". Although, of course, she aspires to more. All this helpful work is a path towards her great dream: to be a team manager. Organize her a team.