Jutta Kleinschmidt

Who is Jutta Kleinschmidt?

Jutta Kleinschmidt is a competitor of offroad automotive racing events. She is known for her numerous showings in the Paris Dakar Rally, and notably for having won the event in 2001, becoming the only woman to win the race and the only German to win the car category.

She was born in Cologne, Germany, and grew up in Berchtesgaden, Upper Bavaria. She studied physics at Isny Polytech then worked at BMW. She raced her first Paris Dakar Rally in 1988 on a BMW motorcycle. In 1994, she switched to driving a car and in 1997, became the first woman to win a stage of the Rally. The following year, she was on the podium and in 2001, she became the first woman to win the Rally.