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The Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia is a shining example of the FIA’s policy of equality, diversity and inclusion, says the head of the world body
RIYADH: One of the FIA’s ongoing goals is to open up the world of motorsport with policies that promote equality, diversity and inclusion.
This is the fundamental mission of FIA President Ben Sulayem and his team, who want to provide opportunities for as many people as possible, regardless of gender, religion, origin and financial situation. The key goal is to increase regional competitiveness and double motorsport participation by 2025.
One of the platforms for promoting this mission was the Dakar Rally, which is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia and is considered one of the most popular motorsport events in the world.
The event attracted a record 603 competitors, including 73 T1 crews, two T2 crews, 47 T3 light prototypes, 46 T4 SSVs, 56 trucks, 76 Dakar Classic cars and 13 Dakar Classic trucks.
Competitors from 68 countries are competing, which includes entries in the motorcycle class. France has the most with 143 representatives, followed by 83 Spanish and 75 Dutch. But there are participants from South America, Africa, Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East and several Asian countries, including China, India, Japan and Kyrgyzstan.
The grueling opening round of the FIA World Rally Championship featured 150 rookie competitors and 54 women for the first time, including 20 in the Dakar Classic and five all-female racing crews.
Ben Sulayem and Robert Reid, FIA Deputy President for Sport, were greeted by Prince Khalid bin Sultan Al-Abdullah Al-Faisal, President of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, as they arrived for a day off visit to Riyadh. The duo toured the bivouac and met many of the leading crews, some of the younger male and female competitors.
Many Saudi participants
“Everywhere you look in the bivouac in Riyadh, you see diversity both in terms of technology and sustainability, but more importantly diversity of culture, age and gender,” said Ben Sulayem.
“It’s really nice to see young drivers getting a chance. It is also encouraging to see the number of Saudi nationals, especially young women, playing key roles in the organization of the Dakar Rally and other motorsport events, not only as drivers and co-drivers, but also as project managers and engineers and many other roles.
“Motorsport has given them an opportunity and is an accurate reflection of the positive changes taking place in the Kingdom and is very much in line with the FIA’s policy on equality, diversity and inclusion.”
Reid commented: “We walked around the bivouac, met some of the competitors, saw two Saudi women competing alongside many other women, including some very young competitors. There are teams like South Racing that are introducing academy programs to attract racers, but not just racers, engineers, mechanics, even from different parts of the world, from different backgrounds. And that’s really what we need to see if we’re going to achieve our goal of doubling motorsport participation.”
Recent years have highlighted the diverse nature of the Dakar and 2023 is no exception.
For example, 18-year-old Eryk Goczal is participating in the Dakar for the first time as a member of the Cobant-Energylandia Rally Team, together with his father Marek and uncle Michal in a three-car team. The rookie made history in the first week when he became the youngest Dakar stage winner. The Pole currently sits third in the T4 category, has won two stages and is in a good position to challenge for overall honors this week.
Also competing in the T3 category is the talented young American Seth Quintero, driving a Can-Am Maverick X3 as part of the Red Bull Off-Road Junior Team USA presented by BF Goodrich. He made history last year by winning a record 11 stages at the Dakar and is currently third in his class, about an hour behind the leader, with six stages remaining. This time he already has one stage win.
The rise of female drivers
Female drivers have impressive results and a long history of success at the Dakar. German Jutta Kleinschmidt rewrote the history books back in 2001 when she became the first woman to outright win the competition in a Mitsubishi Pajero, and women now compete in all classes.
This year, reigning Extreme E champion Cristinia Gutierrez is participating as a member of the factory Red Bull Can-Am team and is fourth in T3 on the rest day. She is also the highest ranked female driver in the general classification.
Germany’s Annett Fischer and Swedish co-rider Annie Seel on their X-raid Yamaha are a good fifth of the W2RC entrants in the same class, while former FIA Bajas T3 World Champion Dania Akeel is ninth after struggling after a crash last week. All-rounder Aliyyah Koloc of the United Arab Emirates is another three places behind in her appearance at Buggyra Racing.
Mashael Al-Obaidan was the first Saudi woman with a competitive license and also competes in the T3 category, where she is currently the fifth ranked woman behind Gutierrez, Anya Van Loon, Fischer and Camelia Liparoti. The Can-Am driver has been a regular on the FIA World and Middle East Baja Cup circuit and is targeting a top 20 finish in her class.
Meanwhile, in the T4 category, WRC star and Extreme E driver Molly Taylor is also making waves in the ski rally. The Australian also overcame a crash in the first week to remain seventh among W2RC competitors in her class. Van Loon from the Netherlands followed her husband Erik into the sport and is running well in the T3 category heading into week two.