Le Mans, France: Sisters Amnah and Hamda Al Qubaisi, both competing in the Senior Class, had an impressive free practice session ahead of their International finals of the X30 Challenge at Le Mans.
Amnah (17) and Hamda (15) improved on their lap times during the practice sessions and were quite satisfied with the times they posted ahead of the main race in their respective categories.
Hamda is the youngest in the Senior Class, which features 150 drivers who have qualified from all over the world.
Both sisters are competing for Team UAE driving CRG karts under the supervision of Daman Speed Academy’s team manager Lorenzo Balzan, who has tremendous experience of such big events.
“Being the first female Arab to not just represent the UAE, but also Arab girls in general, is a huge honour for me. I have surprised many on track and I shall keep on surprising them with my racing skills as an Arab girl,” said Amnah.
“The practice in general was a bit challenging. However, with the help of Lorenzo and team CRG I managed some fast times and be within competitive pace. Though the weather is very cold, I managed to adapt to the track conditions. I also learnt a lot from the other drivers,” she added.
Hamda too was pretty pleased with her practice session, which was her first on Le Mans track. “There are a few challenging corners but overall we are on pace with team CRG; but definitely there is room for improvement. To be representing the UAE in the world finals as Emirati girls is an amazing feeling and it is an honour to be here. The track conditions keep changing, so it took us a while to adapt to the cold weather and wet track; despite that we did well and learnt from the other drivers,” said Hamda ahead of the qualifying heats, pre-finals and finals slotted for Sunday.
