TOP (LEFT): A group of five female riders are seen before the start of a round in Qatar Superbike Championship at Losail International Circuit last week. TOP (RIGHT): QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah shakes hand with Nina Prinz of Germany.
DOHA: QMMF President Nasser bin Khalifa Al Attiyah and retired French rally star Michele Mouton will join a host of top officials to debate the growth of women’s side of motor sport in MENA region at a key FIA seminar to be held today.
The FIA Women in Motorsport Commission is being hosted for the first time in the Middle East, Al Attiyah, the FIA vice-president for sport for the MENA region, said yesterday.
Al Attiyah will deliver the opening speech at the key meeting where Mouton, 62, will make a presentation on how FIA promotes women in motor sport around the world.
Mouton, who became the first president of the FIA’s Women and Motor Sport Commission in 2010, will be joined by WIM vice-president Randa Nabulsi, MSA international training programme director Susan Sanders, FIA WRC media delegate Hayley Gallagher and FIA commission manager Frédérique Trouve.
Ladies attending the seminar include Egypt’s Yara Shalaby, FIA WMC circuit project co-ordinator Cathy Muller Ehrlacher, Finland’s Tina Lehmonen, Mexico’s Jenny Bertin, former Italian co-driver Fabrizia Pons, Moroccan representative Samira Bouhassoune and Keko Ihara of Japan.
Graham Stoker, the FIA deputy president for sport, is also one of the speakers at the seminar which has been planned to hand out tasks to MENA officials for the rest of the year, Al Attiyah said.
“The main target of this seminar is is to give them (officials in Doha) tasks to be carried out in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. This was my dream to support women’s side in motor sport when I became the FIM Vice President. So we really need to do many things,” Al Attiyah said when asked about the agenda of the seminar.
“Any woman who is associated with motor sport in a major way is going to be here and they will be given task force so that they can challenge the men in this area. We want to give them the larger picture what needs to be done to further women’s role in motor sport as a whole,” Al Attiyah added.
“We need to strike a balance (among men and women side of the sport),” Al Attiyah said. “To do that, we need easy communication, easy preparation ahead of events and we have to receive them in this part of the world with more facilities,” he said.
Al Attiyah said Doha’s involvement in the seminar is large scale.
“We have also invited officials from Ministry of Interior and Hamad Medical Corporation. They will talk about their roles when they associate themselves with our events since they provide key help during or after events,” Al Attiyah said.
“We will see in which direction we go after this meeting. I am pushing hard for representatives from motor sport side on safety and logistics etc so that they also get a chance to dedicate themselves to this sport.
“We will have (Qatar’s first female rally driver) Nada Zaidan who is taking part in this week’s Qatar International Rally. We have also invited MENA officials too. Officials who are associated with motor sport clubs or activities are here to share with us their knowledge and experience. This is a good platform to build relationships. The regional media will also be involved.
“We are basically going to engage in many topics related to moto rsport and how to encourage more females to come forward and be part of this sport,” Al Attiyah said.
“This is what I am trying to do - to combine the expertise at FIA and FIM gel with the women’s side of motor sport,” Al Attiyah said.
Al Attiyah, who is also a Vice President at FIM, said the plan to hold a seminar was conceived last year.
“Last year when I was thinking to run for the FIA Vice President post, during that time I met with FIA’s women’s commission headed by Michele Mouton, the famous rally driver,” Al Attiyah recalled.
“We talked about the possibilities as to how we can help fast-track women’s participation in motor sport, to take it to a better level and for better marketing,” he said.
“What we achieved with women’s participation in the FIM side was well noticed. We got a lot of female riders into our races and international events. Riders like Elena Rosell and Nina Prinz and many others achieved good results in races.
“There are members in FIA (car racing authority) who are also members of FIM (bike racing body). They already know what Qatar gave to the female riders in terms raising their profile in a sport dominated by men. Now Michele she trying to upgrade their level.
“We are not talking only about racing. We are also talking about marketing, marshalling, administration, volunteering, logistics, road safety ... so all aspects of auto racing are taken into account so that women also raise their profile,” Al Attiyah said.
THE PENINSULA
