Rallying in Africa is mostly a male-dominated sport, but that is slowly starting to change. In Egypt, one woman has broken traditional bounds and is already among the top drivers in the country.
Yara Shalaby’s love of the desert, from when she was still young, is what drew her to wanting to race in Egypt’s challenging terrains.
Her career got off to a bumpy start, getting lost in the desert during her first race, filling her with fear of being mocked. This however did not crush her hopes.
Six months later however, she clocked in second in the El Remal Desert Challenge, in Egypt’s western desert.
She then went on to compete in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and ranked first in her category in Egypt’s Pharaohs International Cross Country Rally in 2014.
Other than being a professional rally driver, Shalaby juggles between motherhood duties and working as an IT specialist in a bank.
Keen for other women to follow in her tracks, she set up the Middle East’s first women’s rally team, the Gazelle Rally. The team currently has seven drivers and has secured sponsorship for 2016.
