Reema Juffali coins her name in the history books

Reema Juffali becomes the first Saudi woman to take part in competitive racing in the kingdom defying all odds in the male-dominated motorsports vertical. It was only a dream for women in this part of the world to become a motorsport racer due to the ban on women driving in the kingdom. However, this decade-old ban was lifted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a part of his liberalisation drive in June last year. Months later, after the ban lift, Reema debuted in the world of motoring. 

While participating in the qualifying round on Friday morning, Juffali took the track at the Diriyah Circuit as the VIP driver in the Jaguar-I-Pace e-Trophy, which is an all-electric race car. She completed the track built in the heart of the UNESCO World Heritage site in 1 min 39 seconds, which is marginally over five seconds behind the pole position.

Reema Juffali, from the western city of Jeddah educated in the US, said, “I am very excited, I never thought this day would come, or at least I didn’t know when and it came a lot sooner than expected. I’m a year into racing and here I am now about to race at home which is an incredible feeling.” 

Juffali has only a year of experience in the field of professional racing and had made her one of the first appearances as a competitive racer at the F4 British Championship at Brands Hatch in April earlier this year. However, fast cars have always caught her attention. She grew up watching Formula One racing and developed an extreme passion for racing and fast cars in her teenage years. 

Outside the kingdom, only a handful of Saudi Arabian females have raced professionally. The mandatory racing license in her home country has also been obtained by only a few women to date. Juffali, in a statement, mentioned that her dream is to race at Le Mans - a 24-hour racing competition in France which is one of the world’s most reputed and demanding competitions. 

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