“I look at this as a blank canvas”, Reema Juffali says when she discusses not only helping to bring through the next generation of Saudi women racers but increasing motorsports participation in the region as a whole.
She is clearly passionate about the subject as she talks with vigour – but she has not been all talk and no action, launching her own team, Theeba Motorsport, and now working alongside Qiddiya to open up what was a narrow pathway for Middle East racing talent.
Her desire to push forward with plans is no doubt fuelled by the fact her own story dovetailed with changes in Saudi Arabia, where women were allowed to drive for the first time seven years ago.
“In 2017 I had actually also just moved back to Saudi. I was abroad studying, working from college and it was a time where I was also finding my feet, figuring out what's the next thing I should be doing,” she said.
“I thought: ‘Alright, now is the right time to finally – like, I've been thinking and talking about racing for so long, at least I could really get my racing licence and then figure everything else afterwards’.
“I was in the UK at the time and Rockingham was where I got my racing licence and I remember sitting there a bit intimidated by the whole thing, I had no idea what they were asking about at all and at the time Saudis couldn't get their licences, a Saudi couldn't get a licence from Saudi Arabia.
“So I came out with the UK motorsport licence and then I decided to race in the Middle East, my first championship, October 2018. I signed up to the TRD GT86. So I did that and honestly didn't know what was ahead of me, didn't know how to start.
“Women were starting to drive in Saudi in June and I happened to be racing in October, the timing was very much like the stars aligning, if you like.”
Juffali would race in the United Kingdom in Formula 4, working hard not only to promote motorsport but selling her own racing talent to potential sponsors back home, something she admits did not come naturally as an introvert.
Soon, though, she was also thinking much bigger and would launch her own team to capture thriving talent in Saudi Arabia and beyond in the MENA region.
“I looked at setting up my team and taking the next step and looking at investing in the sport,” she explained.
“Then many doors opened, many routes and obstacles and learning about what it takes to have a good race team, to get the results, and I have a lot of respect for everyone who's doing it!
“The point of the team and what I wanted out of it was really to propel Saudi talent through and it is an ambitious dream, and it still continues to be one.
“I think it’s an opportune time in Saudi now to get behind the sport and build what essential grassroots that we can have and establish, because the Jeddah Corniche Circuit is the only active circuit at the moment.
“There's one coming up in Qiddiya, and for me it's about making sure, once it has launched and we have all of these facilities, that there's a platform for the youth to come through from all facets of the sport.
“I know I'm in a unique position being a Saudi, racing at the circuits like I did in Europe and Britain, but it's different when you're talking about your own home. I look at this as a blank canvas as well and I think Qiddiya do too, and that's super exciting that you're coming into a country that is super excited about investing in the sport.
“Eventually we will see talents coming through – maybe not right now, maybe not yesterday, but I really want to see things happen tomorrow and that bit of patience that's required to build something that's a lot bigger than me.”
Juffali, a Jeddah local, spoke alongside Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and Qiddiya managing director Abdullah Aldawood ahead of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – which will relocate to the new Speedway Track once it is completed.
The self-styled ‘City of Play’ will also contain the Mercedes-AMG World of Performance, with immersive and interactive exhibits for motorsports fans.
Juffali believes having a brand such as Mercedes involved shows Qiddiya means business and will also be playing a part in helping her own mission, which was helped along when Farah AlYousef followed in her footsteps by becoming another local woman to participate as an F1 Academy wildcard in Jeddah.
“It was an honour to share a table with Toto and Abdullah, being a part of that conversation,” she added.
“Having world leaders like Mercedes come in, the vision of Qiddiya which is not a small [one] – they're saying: ‘We want to build the facilities, we want to look at how to make the fan engagement immersive, we want people to feel what it takes to understand the engineering side, contextualizing things’ and that is something that's not been done before.
“What they're doing is much larger, and to be amongst them and talking and sharing my experience, hopefully people can learn from my experience.
“I think Qiddiya, with magnitude of the project, they're going to touch not only women but all Saudis. The interest from them supporting young drivers is present, and I think you can see that already with Farah and myself, in support races for F1 – it is still the beginning and it's really about making sure we do things right from here.”
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