Page 17 - March 2019 IWMA News Interactive

Amna Al Qubaisi Could be the Leading Light for Motorsports in the Middle East
By: Soumil Arora, Motorsports Blogger
I ran across a very interesting motorsports blog written by Soumil Arora, a 15 year old from India. He is a young and passionate Motorsport Blogger, Presenter & Commentator. Soumil is currently pursuing stud- ies in secondary school. He has attended many For- mula E races as a Journalist with Mahindra Racing and aspires to make it big in the world of Motorsport. Apart from what he does best, Soumil also takes keen interest in Broadcast Journalism, Data Analysis, Karting, and Playing Football.
Blog URL: https://www.soumilarora.com https://www.soumilarora.com/motorsports
THE START OF A NEW ERA?
At the post-race Formula E test fol- lowing the inaugural Ad-Diriyah ePrix, a new chapter begun in the history books of Arabian motorsport as a female racing prodigy from the UAE sent positive shockwaves across the motorsport world by testing the Envision Vir- gin Racing Formula E Gen 2 racecar at the brand new Ad-Diriyah street circuit. That fe- male racing prodigy is none other than eigh- teen year-old Emirati driver, Amna Al Qubai- si.
Amna, who is remarkably still a teen- ager, is the daughter of accomplished sports- car driver Khaled Al Qubaisi, who was the first driver from the UAE to compete and take a podium in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans and win a race in the FIA WEC Championship. Under the tutelage of her highly experienced father, Amna won the prestigious UAE Ro- tax Max Challenge in 2017, becoming the first ever Arabic woman to do so in the process.
Her downright speed and determi- nation to improve race after race helped her move up the ranks and compete in the Ital- ian F4 series in 2018 along with earning a re- markable sponsorship deal with Kaspersky Lab, a cybersecurity company who is actively involved in global motorsport.
Moreover, Amna Al Qubaisi is one of the fifty five qualifiers to have been selected for the groundbreaking female-only W Series and being merely eighteen years of age, she holds the key to a very bright future in the motorsport world.
However, Amna’s importance is more than just being a consistent and quick points
scoring driver for the team she competes for; in a world where females are taking centre stage in every sport, including motor racing, she has a major role to play.
Triumph for Amna could put UAE and the entire Middle East on the motorsport map in the driver market. She is the most prominent single-seat- er racing driver from the region and her success could rapidly accelerate the growth of motorsport in the Arabian countries. Normally, when a driver from a country lacking great motorsport tradition succeeds in his or her rac- ing career, the passion for the sport spreads like wildfire in the driver’s home country. This makes the country a big potential market for sponsors and that brings big motorsport series and facilities to the country.
This scenario is different in Amna’s case; the facilities and the events are already in place as a consequence of the immense wealth of the region but the local drivers are yet to take full advantage of the same and break out on the international motorsport scene. Amna is that driver who can poten- tially start the trend of the younger audiences in the Middle East choosing the demanding, yet incredibly satisfying career path of being racing drivers, regardless of their gender.
Apart from being a living embodiment of the fact that women can achieve great things in sports, Amna is also the leading light of motorsport drivers in the UAE along with her father, Khaled and the history-making Formula E test with Envision Virgin Racing was simply a representation of the same. Should Amna fulfill her enormous potential and market herself very well to become a recognizable figure and a brand both locally and glob- ally, she can be the catalyst of the development of future motorsport talent in the Middle East.
That is exactly what makes her a truly notable driver who could take Emirati motorsport to the next level; that is exactly what could make Amna Al Qubaisi arguably the most important person in the history of Emirati motorsport.
Follow Amna Al Qubaisi on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amna.alqubaisi.50
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amnalqubaisi_official
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amna_Alqubaisii
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