Highlights From the 2022 Rally Jameel, the First All-Women’s Off-Road Rally in Saudi Arabia
Three U.S. teams took on the inaugural female event with waypoints hidden in Middle Eastern desert.
We're familiar with cool all-female events like the Rebelle Rally, and a few years ago there was the Global Auto Salon in Riyadh, but a women's off-road rally in Saudi Arabia? That's completely revolutionary, considering women were just given rights to drive on the streets of Saudi Arabia less than five years ago. The 2022 Rally Jameel, held March 16-19, 2022, was the perfect way to celebrate March 8's International Women's Day.
Winning the inaugural Rally Jameel, the first women-only off-road navigation rally in Saudi Arabia, depended not on pure speed for the 35 teams competing, but on navigation, checkpoints, and planning skills as the teams traversed from Hail to Al-Riyadh, the capital, passing by Al-Qassim. The three stages, varying from about 200 to 300 miles per day, were kept secret until the night before.
Challenges abound when it comes to the logistics surrounding an inaugural rally, and Rally Jameel was no exception. Competitor Lyn Woodward explains, "The biggest challenge we had was defining the rules. Since this was a first-year event, the rules felt a bit fluid. The organizers were learning at the same time we were. Because they used Dakar or Cross-Country Baja rules but eliminated speed, that changed how some of the rules and penalties were interpreted. We had no clue what a timecard was until they threw it into our car right as we rolled off the starting line. The timecards weren't mentioned in the rule book! Subsequently, we were three minutes early to the first time control and got a 15 point penalty. We figured it out pretty quick and after that first day, we stayed penalty free."
The rally vehicles that the teams used were all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive, as necessitated by the Saudi Arabian desert, but they were unmodified. Almost half of the vehicle entries were Toyotas: Rav4, Prado, FJ Cruiser, Fortuner, and Land Cruiser. Other entries included the Jeep Wrangler, Ford Bronco, Isuzu MUX, Ram 1500, Land Rover Defender, Lexus LX, MG RX8, Mitsubishi L200, Jeep Compass, Hummer, Nissan Patrol, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Baic, Porsche Cayenne, and Porsche Macan.
