Arab female car racers dream of going international

Rabab al-Tajir from the United Arab Emirates is a female race driver that dreams of participating in an international race competition. Tajir, 33, who first participated in an Emirati car-race competition in 2004, told the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that she wants to participate in the international off-road competition in Dakar. “They say women are sensitive and cannot take the pain and the heat,” she said, adding, “even men in my family ask why I take on sports that are only suitable to men.” The adventure-driven Emirati said that she joined her fellow country person, Matar al-Mansouri, in the 2009 and 2010 car races in the Empty Quarter in Abu Dhabi. “My goal is to be the first Emirati and Arab woman to participate in an international competition,” said Tajir, who also works as a human resources consultant. In addition to Tajir, Marwa al-Eefa, a naturalized UAE citizen originally from Saudi Arabia, a country that prohibits women from driving, made headlines when she won the first international competition for women in car racing. (any idea where and when this was?) “I love adventures, and I couldn’t care less if I was a man or women," Eefa said. She said that she wanted to participate in Formula One, but her age, also 33, prevented her from doing so. She also added that finding sponsors and time to train prevent her from pursuing her dream.