Reema Juffali

Reema Juffali was the first Saudi woman to race cars competitively, in the modern era at least. Shortly after the Saudi government allowed women to apply for driving licenses in 2018, she entered her first race, albeit in Abu Dhabi. She was 26. 

She took part in the first two rounds of the Toyota TRD GT86 Cup at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina in late 2018, earning a second and third place in class. In the next round, also held at Yas Marina, she scored her first win. She was fourth in the championship.

As well as the one-make Toyota cup, she entered the same car into the UAE Touring Car Championship, driving for Dragon Racing and scoring two class podiums.

Not content with production sportscar action, she entered her first single-seater races at the start of 2019, making an appearance in the final rounds of the MRF Formula 2000 championship at the Madras circuit in India. Her first race in the MRF F4/F3 hybrid car began with a spin and she finished last. During the other four races, she struggled with the car and was penalised for obstructing other drivers.

Some surprise was expressed when Reema signed up for the British Formula 4 championship, given her lack of single-seater experience and advanced age compared to her rivals. She drove for Double R Racing and although she was not among the front-runners, fairly soon, she was close to the pace. Towards the end of the season, she scored eighth places at Thruxton and Knockhill. She took advantage of any opportunity to test and became a competent racer. 

At the end of 2019, she made more history by becoming the first Saudi woman to take part in a circuit race in her home country, against a mixed field. She was invited by Jaguar as one of its guest drivers for the I-Pace eTrophy, a one-make electric saloon series which supports Formula E. Her two races at the Ad-Diriyah street circuit ended in a tenth place and a retirement.

Her second Gulf region appearance of 2019 made history again. She raced for the Dragon team in the Grand Prix-supporting UAE F4 race and took to the track alongside three other female drivers: Amna al-Qubaisi, Hamda al-Qubaisi and Logan Hannah. Her race results were a twelfth and a sixth place.

Her Abu Dhabi outing was a prelude to a run in the UAE F4 championship. Her best finishes in hte series were two fifth places in Dubai, and she was a much more competitive presence, if not yet a frontrunner.

She came back to the UK for a shortened British F4 season with the Argenti team. Her times were more competitive this year and were level with most of the rest of the pack. She was thirteenth in the championship with a best finish of eighth: twice at Silverstone, once at Croft and once at Snetterton.

In 2021 she moved up to the GB3 championship, previously British F3. She was driving for the Douglas Motorsport team. Mid-season, she surprised everyone with a fourth place in a reverse-grid race, but she was very much in the learning phase of her F3 career. She was 18th overall.

Although her family has always been involved in the automotive world, Reema only became seriously interested in motorsport in 2017, after meeting Susie Wolff at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Previously, she had only been involved as a spectator at bigger events. She is from Jeddah, although she was educated in the United States and works in the UK.

Her big news for 2022 was the debut of her own GT team, Theeba Motorsport. The Theeba Mercedes AMG GT3 ran in the International GT Open and drivers Reema and Adam Christodolou were second in the ProAm class, with four class wins. As well as racing for Theeba, Reema also made some appearances for SPS Automotive Performance, driving another Mercedes. She and her three co-drivers were ninth in the GT3 class and second in the GT3-Am class at the Dubai 24 Hours, then a different quartet including Reema won the Bronze class in the Fanatec GT World Challenge at Spa. They were 34th overall in the Intercontinental GT Challenge race the next day.

Theeba continued to compete in 2023, with Reema as a driver. She entered the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe, contesting both the Endurance and Sprint categories. The car was a Mercedes GT3 again. For the Endurance races, it was shared between Reema, Ralf Aron and Alain Valente. They were 30th in the Bronze Cup after finishing all of their races apart from the Spa 24 Hours, when Yannick Mettler joined the team. Their best result was 29th at the Nurburgring. 

In the Sprint races, she partnered Fabian Schiller. Their best result was 21st at Valencia and they were seventh in the Bronze Cup.

Her motorsport career goals include racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

(Image copyright AFP)