Diriyah, Saudi Arabia: Sliding behind the wheel of a sleek electric SUV, Reema Juffali is set to blaze a trail in male-dominated motorsports as the first Saudi woman to race in the kingdom.

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Such adrenalin rushes were unimaginable for women in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom until June last year, when it overturned the world’s only ban on female motorists as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s wide-ranging liberalisation drive.

Juffali, a 27-year-old who made her motoring debut just months after the decades-old ban ended, will compete Friday and Saturday in the Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY, an all-electric race in Diriyah, close to the capital Riyadh.

“The ban was lifted last year and I never expected to race professionally,” said Juffali, sitting in her black-and green Jaguar I-Pace, an electric sports utility vehicle.

“The fact that I am doing it... is amazing,” Juffali, clad in a racing suit, said in an interview close to the racing circuit in Diriyah.

Juffali, who hails from the western city of Jeddah and was educated in the United States, will participate as what organisers call a “VIP” guest driver, becoming the first Saudi woman to race on home soil.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s sports authority chief, has touted it as a “watershed” moment for the kingdom.

“Reema will have thousands cheering her on, as a professional racing driver,” the prince said.

Juffali, who made one of her first appearances in competitive racing at the F4 British Championship at Brands Hatch in April, has only about a year of professional racing experience under her belt.

But she has had a passion for fast cars since her teen

This story is from the November 24, 2019 edition of Millennium Post Delhi.

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