As the 2025 Taklimakan Rally roars through its punishing stages, one team within the Great Wall Haval Motorsport camp stands out: the mother-daughter pairing of driver Sun Xiangyan and her 20-year-old navigator, Ma Xin. Their shared cockpit in the vast Taklimakan Desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region is a testament to familial bonds forged in the crucible of extreme motorsport.

Sun, a formidable presence in the rally world for years, embodies resilience. Renowned for her gritty determination and technical prowess, she has consistently held her own against elite male competitors.

Her rally career is impressive: a successful debut finish at the China Rally in 2018, and the groundbreaking achievement of becoming the first Chinese woman to conquer the legendary Dakar Rally last year.

This year's rally marks Sun's fifth assault on the Taklimakan's brutal terrain. But this time, the passenger seat holds someone uniquely special: her daughter, Ma, returning for her second year as navigator after her 2024 debut.

The seeds of this partnership were sown early. Sun often brought the young girl to rallies. "She seemed even happier than I was when I won," Sun says.

By April 2024, Ma had earned her competition license, and the duo committed to tackling the Taklimakan Rally together. The desert is unforgiving. Scorching heat, treacherous dunes, endless complex stages, and relentless pressure push even seasoned veterans to their limits.

Launched in 2005, the Taklimakan Rally has grown into Asia's longest, largest and most competitive off-road race, covering a total of more than 71,000 kilometers over the years.

The 2025 edition featured 23 motorcycles and 105 vehicles navigating roughly 5,200 km over 13 days before concluding on June 1.

Ma learned this the hard way during her rookie run last year. Overwhelmed in the co-driver's seat, the then-19-year-old succumbed to heatstroke in the grueling second special stage. Blinded by excruciating pain as sand invaded her eyes beneath her helmet, hands occupied with crucial pace notes, she broke down in tears.

This year, a transformation is evident. The hesitant novice has matured. Ma navigates with newfound composure and confidence, her synergy with her mother visibly smoother as their car carves tracks across the endless sand. "We understand each other better now, in the car and out of it," Ma says. They move as a more cohesive unit, leaving tracks not just in the desert, but on their shared journey of challenge and growth.

Looking beyond the current dust clouds, both mother and daughter share an open-minded perspective on the future. Sun, fiercely proud yet pragmatic, acknowledges the steep path ahead for Ma to become an elite navigator.

For Sun, car rallying demands immense dedication and mastering mechanics, vehicle repair, building physical and mental fortitude … there is a significant journey still ahead for her daughter.