Dania Akeel is flying the flag for Saudi women—the checkered flag of motorsports. Saudi Arabia’s first female international rally driver is a FIA World Cup winner, a top-10 finisher at the grueling Dakar Rally, and an inspiration to Saudi women across the country.
Saudi Arabia’s investments in sports and entertainment are delivering new opportunities for Saudi men and women to enjoy sports at every level, from watching Formula 1 races and top-level football matches to playing basketball in the street—or even winning international competitions, like rally star Dania Akeel.
Dania made history as the first Saudi woman to receive a racing license for Superbike circuit racing, and she is the first to win an international cross-country rally. In 2021, in her first year competing in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, she won the T3 category. Then, in early 2022 in Saudi Arabia, she posted a top-10 finish in her first Dakar Rally, a grueling two-week event that requires drivers to race through some of the most challenging terrain in the world.
“When I finished eighth in the Dakar, it didn’t feel like it was just my own achievement,” she says. “It was an achievement for all Saudi women and for our country. There was a very special collective feeling.”
Dania has always loved moving fast, first on bicycles, horses, and go-karts as a young girl, and then on motorcycles and in rally cars. When she was at school in the U.K., at a time when women in Saudi Arabia were not allowed to drive, she booked her first driving lesson on her 17th birthday. A motorbike license followed, and when Dania moved back to the Middle East for work, the Saudi Motorsport Federation awarded her the historic racing license.
“I will never forget the feeling when they issued me a license that had never been awarded to a woman before,” Dania says. “It taught me how fast rules can change and new opportunities can appear. It showed just how fast Saudi society was evolving.”
Today, five years after Saudi women won the right to drive, Dania’s achievements have turned her into a role model for women across the country.
“Racing teaches you how to adapt to continuous change. It tests you and shows you how to make decisions fast.”
Dania Akeel, cross-country rally driver
“The support from the top that we are seeing for women in Saudi Arabia is making a huge difference,” she says. “Being able to drive gives women many more possibilities to realize their potential.”
An articulate and level-headed trailblazer, Dania has attracted sponsorship from leading Saudi businesses including Toyota car dealership Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, car rental firm Hertz KSA, and health care and wellness conglomerate Tamer Group. Her responsibility as a role model motivates her to do her very best when she is competing in a rally, she says.
“I know that I represent Saudi women when I race. It is empowering. When I get a good result, I know it will reflect well on women. It is something that inspires me.”
What do you love about rally races?
Cross-country rallies are endurance racing. The Dakar Rally is 9,000 kilometers over two weeks. It is vast. Saudi Arabia is a great place to hold it because there is so much space and it is so diverse, with sand, rocks, and green mountains. In a rally, you have to live with yourself for a full day and over a full two weeks. You watch your thoughts, you watch your reactions, and you get to know your own character. The Dakar changes you. I was a different person when I finished the race.
What life lessons has racing taught you?
Racing has given me a lot more tolerance for problems or things that might be irritating or mundane. I was not always the most patient person. I learned that things go wrong all the time. Not everything goes according to plan. Conditions are always changing and moving. You have to respond when something goes wrong and act very quickly because the race is still going on. Sometimes you also have to back off and slow down to get through a place faster. I had to learn how to cross some intimidating terrain while being afraid.
From racing, I have learned to always look for the path to progress. In life, you have to learn to adapt when things go wrong or when you make a mistake. Having new goals or setting new targets is the pathway to success.
How can participation in sport benefit women in Saudi Arabia?
Sport is very character-building. It brings out a person’s competitive side. It helps them manage their emotions and become more hardworking, disciplined, organized, and social. It is important for women to engage in competitive sports like motorsports. If women can participate in sports, they can develop more sisterly and supportive bonds.
Sport generates a feeling of belonging, which is so important for the future of our society and our community
As published in Fortune magazine.
