In this interview, we have the pleasure of speaking with Albert Llovera, our long-time partner and supporter, an exceptional rally driver who has proven that limits only exist in the mind, competing in regular categories. With an unbreakable attitude and a passion for the sport, Albert shares his personal experience, the challenges he has overcome, and how he has managed to maintain his constant spirit of self-improvement throughout his life. His story aims to inspire all those who believe that disability is an obstacle, showing that with dedication, innovation, and self-confidence, any goal can be achieved.

For those who don’t know you in person. What qualities do you think define you?

I consider myself a fighter, with attitude, who never tires of moving forward on many different fronts. Ultimately, I believe that many times our limits are defined by people or society, and one tries, not to break those limits, but to try to do what one truly likes.

What do you think has inspired your constant spirit of self-improvement?

I don’t know. I think I was raised that way. We are four siblings; I am the youngest, and my family has always been very forward-thinking, fighters, and with a great passion for sports. So, whether you like it or not, all that teaches you.

Life has treated me the way it has. And I don’t say, neither well nor badly. Simply, when I started my sports career as an Olympic skier, I thought I would live off my legs, and my legs stopped working when I was 18. Now it turns out I’m a driver and I live off my hands; you know, I never thought I’d get this far either. But I’ve always trusted myself. Trusting yourself inspires you to fight to achieve what you set out to do. Even if you have to do a thousand things, I act as secretary, manager, driver…

Is there any athlete who inspires you, or a figure who inspires you?

I like what many athletes do, some are like idols, and I have a very good relationship with high-level athletes, but I don’t identify with any of them.

In the end, because of my physical limitations, people around me used to tell me, “you have to do Paralympic sports,” and I didn’t want to do Paralympic sports. I want to compete with the rest; I don’t want to participate in a separate category.

How has your perspective on limitations and possibilities evolved throughout your sports career?

I believe we must distinguish between the limitations society places on us and the limitations each of us has.

You cannot teach the world rally champion in the same way if they cannot move their lower limbs. You can get close, but relying only on your upper limbs gives you some disadvantages. Controlling a vehicle weighing over a thousand kilos, at a hundred and something, on dirt, inside a forest, is not the same if you do it only with your hands as with your hands and feet. But at the same time, I also never thought I would have five championships and five runner-up titles, and yet, I do.

I wish I had had much more support to work deeply on adaptations. In the end, driver and co-driver are two people, but if we add the accelerator, brake, and clutch that I use, plus the wheelchair, we are three in the car. On climbs, I carry an extra 70 kilos, which I also drag when braking. And I carry them when I’m sideways in the inertia as well.

If we had had more budget for testing and evolving in addition to racing, we would surely have reached much higher. But I’m not complaining. We have come as far as we have, and I am happy with what we have achieved. I have been in the World Rally Championship, the World Rallycross Championship, the Dakar… In that sense, I feel privileged.

What is the creative and engineering process like when conceiving and implementing adaptive improvements to vehicles?

They usually arise from me, and I even design them myself. I studied graphic engineering. But I always work with the rest of the team. I develop it with the Guidosimplex team in Italy, but also with my mechanics. Especially with my chief mechanic, with whom I’ve been working for 25 years, and we know each other very well. He knows how to put himself in my shoes, and that’s very important to me.

Has there been any innovation that made you feel you had taken a big step forward?

Many! The electronic accelerator, for example, used to be directly by rod. The force I had to exert with my thumbs… That’s why I’ve had surgery several times. That force is normally done with the foot. And until we developed an electronic accelerator to relieve me, I would lose strength in my thumbs.

It took us a while to find a good potentiometer. But this was very important, not only for us, because by changing the manual ring to an electronic one, people with reduced mobility in the upper body, such as those with hand dystrophies or some quadriplegics, can use it too.

How do you prepare physically and mentally for competitions?

I do physical training all year round for the Dakar. The rest of the races I plan with my coach. I’ve had the same coach for 20 years, and he knows me very well. He adapts to my lifestyle. There are 200 days a year that I’m away from home, traveling from one place to another. It depends on the planning we have.

There are speed races and others of distance, like the Dakar, and the training is different for each one. We usually start training two weeks before the races, and the rest of the time we work more towards the Dakar. Normally five days a week, more or less.

And mentally, is there anything that helps you?

Well, I have my daughter, who is a sports psychologist and also a neuroscience specialist. I do some things she recommends, but well… she tells me I’m beyond help, you know? (laughs).

Today’s athletes are very into psychological training, but I’m not like that. She works with many athletes, and when they ask her about me, she tells them I’m from another era and do whatever I want. I’ve been doing sports for 40 years, and I’m already used to my methods; I have my own concentration system.

What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your sports career and how have you overcome them?

The first of all was getting my license. Those of us with reduced mobility can only do Paralympic sports. Inclusive sports are now fashionable, but I started in ’89. It was hard for me to explain to many people that I wanted to race rallies. Finally, they gave me the license, I think out of pity. And I won the championship the first year! That was the first big obstacle I encountered, and I loved fighting it. Although I say this now because it took two years of fighting to get my license.

Another challenge is the relationship with the people you compete with. I’ve always felt supported by the other drivers because everyone has helped me a lot… until suddenly they see me very close to them in terms of sports. I notice it especially because there are some details they no longer want to explain to me; that’s when I realize I’m pretty close to them, and I like that too because I understand why it is that way.

Something similar happens to me with some brands because they tell me they’re afraid something might happen to me and the repercussions it could have, responsibilities… they’re afraid people outside might see me as crazy. But if I were crazy, I wouldn’t be doing this, or I would have already had an accident. I take it very seriously, and they know it. I’m not complaining; in reality, I have a lot of support.

What message would you give to those who are going through difficult times and need to find motivation?

It’s complicated because everything depends on many things. How it happened, what happened. But I would tell them that we have to be grateful to be in this life because we are in this life by chance. If our parents hadn’t met that day, I wouldn’t be talking to you. There are things that happen in life that are horrible and there’s no going back, but I think we have to be grateful to be here. We have to fight to move forward. That’s what I sometimes tell people…

On the path to inclusion and accessibility, what are the major milestones that are still pending? Or what major headlines would you like to read in a newspaper about inclusion and accessibility?

There’s still a lot of work to do because society isn’t designed for people with limitations, but for the “normal” ones. I use “normal” in quotes a lot. I think it will never be the same. Because society is already created that way. But have we improved? Yes, a lot. Do we still need to improve more? Yes, of course!

What I would ask for is more education. Think that in addition to people who use wheelchairs, nowadays there are people with visual, auditory, sensory problems of all kinds, autism, Down syndrome… 15 or 20 percent of the population is affected. And some don’t even know it!

Recently, at a conference, I interviewed a 17-year-old girl with autism, and when I asked her, “When were you diagnosed?” She said, “A year and a half ago.” I said, “You were bullied at school,” and she said yes. Sometimes people think, “This one’s a bit off,” and they laugh. No, something is happening to that person.

Is there any cliché about disability that you think is very present in society?

The issue of ramps, for example. The problem of ramps shouldn’t exist anymore. There should be universal accessibility, which is much more comfortable for everyone. When they put ramps, they force me to go there. Besides, when you put a ramp and stairs, everyone goes up the ramp because it’s more comfortable.

So, as much as possible, in streets or wide spaces, if they are well designed, nowadays it’s common not to have ramps. They create a universally accessible space also for parents who carry their child in a stroller, the delivery person who goes with a loaded cart; we all go through the same place.

And on the other hand, the issue of education is important. At all levels, starting by talking about things at home. There should be no taboo or problems in having an open conversation.

Some of us have had an accident; others have a disability from birth, and others have other defects. They don’t hear, don’t see well, or have problems with colors.

It’s impressive what’s being done now for people with cognitive problems in supermarkets or airports, all through designs and signage to find sections, exit, etc. In airports, I sometimes get lost and appreciate the pictograms and indications because it makes life easier for all of us.

What are your next personal and sporting goals?

Now I’m taking some time off because I’m not going to Dakar this year… And because I’ve been doing things for so many years that I’m a bit saturated. There are a thousand things to do in life, and sports absorb me a lot; it demands a lot of concentration, and after 30 years, I’m trying to do other things.

For example, in sports, I’m helping athletes who competed and had an accident, like Carlos Tatay. He had a MotoGP accident a year and a half ago and is already racing again. Working with them fills me quite a bit because I help them solve some things very quickly that took me a long time.

And I combine this with the work I do with Guidosimplex and Sunrise Medical, where I design and develop controls or wheelchairs… I also own an orthotics store, give conferences, and do whatever life puts in front of me.

Is there any message you’d like to send to AsoPMR members or anything else you’d like to add?

That they try to educate their core, their family, their children, their friends… that they must respect parking zones, respect reserved parking for people with limitations, that you can’t laugh at anyone… we are already seeing that people have more and more problems, and there will be many more, mobile phones, networks… we have to be much more humane.