A DIFFERENT STORY
Just before my 25th birthday, I was searching for a new hobby—something that would get me out of my apartment and challenge me with skills that weren’t easy to master. Thanks to a motorbike-riding friend, I got the chance to try his BMW 1200 GS Adventure.
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I tried it—and smashed it into the ground just five meters later. We lifted it up, and I tried again. This time, it worked, and I loved it!
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A few weeks later, I was sitting on my first bike. I started riding every day to perfect my cornering technique. Unfortunately, by the end of the year, I had a crash and broke my collarbone. Time to stop riding—it’s dangerous, right? No! Instead, I took all my money, traded in my bike, and continued chasing corners the following year in Germany's Black Forest.
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Then came the mud. I got the opportunity to spend an enduro holiday in Romania—the perfect place to start riding off-road, especially when it’s raining waterfalls all week. Before we began, the guide asked me, "Jess, what’s your off-road experience?" My overconfident self replied, "None, but I promise you won’t have to wait for me!" You know how this goes: I couldn’t ride and dropped the bike 20 times in the first 500 meters of that muddy hell. The group was watching and laughing—and I deserved it. The guide stepped in, teaching me the basics: cover the clutch, weight on the footpegs, and so on. By the end of the week, I wasn’t the slowest anymore. I could keep up with the group and was even better than some of my more experienced friends.
Back home, my first stop was my local KTM dealer, to trade my street bike for a 300 EXC. But training opportunities in Switzerland were limited, so it took a few months before I could really start riding. I booked some group training sessions, learned a lot, and faced frustration when new techniques didn’t work under different conditions. Determined, I began analyzing my riding—and studying good riders. If they could do it, so could I. That’s how my solo training began.
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During a training holiday, I found amazing friends in Italy who run enduro tours (SudEstRaid). I started helping as a guide, and people began asking me for training sessions. That’s how the Swiss Motorcycle Academy was born.
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Meanwhile, I was competing in the Swiss Enduro Championship and racing my first extreme enduro race, the Arsenal Enduro in Romania.
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There were setbacks. I had a few crashes, hurt both wrists, and didn’t ride much in 2020 because of COVID.
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At the start of 2021, my very good friend Enrica Perego encouraged me to try rallying. I joined Old Farm Racing and performed well in my first events.
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I was thirsty for more and registered for the Hellas Rally in Greece. I finished 14th overall, 8th in the 450 class, and 1st in the women’s class—with a two-hour lead.
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By the end of the year, I had two championship wins under my belt. That gave me the ultimate push to dedicate my life to this sport.
