Saudi’s Juffali battles to claim Pro-am win in Austria

Mansoori heads into the final round of the season on Sunday holding a slender three-point championship lead over Sharjah Team’s Selio, with Germany’s Hagin just one more point away in third place

two laps later Benavente dropped out with exactly the same piston failure as the Emirati.

By the half way point in the forty-lap race Selio began to close the gap on Sacchi, though navigating their way through the backmarkers was now beginning to become extremely difficult for both of them.

Metebrandtbjerknaeshadarrivedinhighhopes following her points scoring race in Lithuania. Having qualified in ninth place she looked on track to add to her total here in Portugal but she was let heartbroken when her engine seized mid race. “Incredibly devastating when so much hard work has been put into preparing for this race” she said. “I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat when I was being towed back to the pontoon by the jet ski. Absolutely guted.”

Back in the pack a superb batle had broken out between Sam Whitle and Colin Jelf. Lap ater lap Jelf, the three times World Champion tried his hardest to pass his younger fellow countryman and each time Whitle held him at bay. It would continue like that till the very end and resulted in Whitle collecting his first championship points that would also see him become the top British racer so far in this year series.

At the front Sacchi’s lead ebbed and flowed whilst Selio, still in second, was now coming under increasing pressure from the JRM driver Brent Dillard, who had the former F1H2O World Champion Jay Price as his radioman urging him on. “

Intheenditwouldbethemonegasquedriverwho would see the chequered flag first to the absolute delight of his team gathered on the pontoon to meet him as he came back to the pits.

Riyadh: Theebamotorsportfounderandsaudiracer Reema Juffali was thrilled to win Race One in the International GT Open in Austria but expressed her frustration that the team could not end the weekend on a high ater being forced to retire in Race Two.

Followingthesummerbreak,theebamotorsport returned to winning ways in the opening race at the Red Bull Ring by claiming victory in the Pro-am class withjuffaliandherteam-mate,adamchristodoulou, helping secure their fourth class victory and third overall podium of the 2022 campaign to date.

The team started the race from 14th in the face of a disrupted qualifying session, in which a pair of late red flags prevented Juffali from improving in the grid decider.juffali completed the first stint of the race and with a strong start, gained two positions on the opening lap and was on the verge of breaking into the top 10 when the pit window opened in the 28th minute. Opting to take the undercut strategy, Juffali handed over to Christodoulou, who quickly broke into the top 10 before snatching second in class and then taking the lead to cross the finish line.

Speaking of the triumph, Juffali said: “It felt great to be back on the podium and to kick-start the second half of 2022 with a win! We’ve been working extremely hard behind the scenes over the summer break, and to have our efforts rewarded in this way is very satisfying.

“Qualifying let us with a litle bit of work to do in the race but I was able to make some good progress during my stint. Adam then did an amazing job batling to the front in the second half to bring home our fourth win of the season.”

The pair could not build on their success in the secondraceaterbeingrear-endedbyanotherteam to sustain terminal damage and retire as a result despite the team being on the verge of returning to the top 10.

Juffali added: “I’m frustrated that our race ended in this way today. With the success penalty, we knew that it was important to qualify well, and Adam did well to put the car on the fourth row. He drove a great first stint and I managed to make up some ground ater the pitstop. It’s a big shame to have to retire ater the race we had in Race One. This one hurts.”

Juffali is the first-ever Saudi Arabian woman racing driver, the first Saudi woman to hold a racing license and also the first Saudi woman to win an international motor race. In November 2019, she became the country’s first woman racing car driver to take part in an international racing competition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The team competes in the Pro-am class of the International GT Open and intends to become the first Saudi racing team to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

In the previous year, the F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix proudly announced the country’s first female racing driver, Juffali, as a Race Ambassador for its inaugural event in the country.

In her home city, Juffali took part in a number of milestone events both on and off the track in her capacity as a positive role model for the next generation of drivers from within the Kingdom and beyond.