Life-changing effect of Dakar: 'You pass the limit and boundaries dissolve within you'

“I was living in Dubai doing a training programme at a consulting firm and I used to go to the race track for open track days,” she says. “I entered the Ducati Cup in the UAE and the superstock series in Bahrain, and did that for a season. Then close to the end I had an accident and had to go back to Saudi. That was when lockdown happened and I didn’t go back to the race track on bikes. So what was available in Saudi? With the Dakar Rally and the FIA Cross-Country Baja World Cup being here I veered off-road.”

So far, so very promising. Akeel was a class winner in her first cross-country rallies in 2021 and finished eighth in the lightweight prototype T3 category on her Dakar debut in January 2022. This season, joined once again by experienced co-driver Sergio Lafuente, she has raced a Can-Am Maverick X3 for German team South Racing and finished as Baja World Cup runner-up in the T3 category. The final round took place in Dubai last weekend, where Akeel and Lafuente finished second in a series that has taken in events in Russia (just before the Ukraine invasion), Jordan, Italy, Spain, Poland, Portugal and Saudi Arabia.

Now the pair are gearing up for their second attack together on Dakar, which starts with a prologue on December 31 and finishes on January 15, after a total distance of 5312 miles, nearly 3000 of which will be against the clock. The fact one four-day section of the route takes place in what is known as Saudi’s ‘Empty Quarter’ offers a clue to just how remote you become as you race through the desert dunes, among 365 entries.

The Dakar has long since transcended its geographical description, moving first for 10 years to South America because of security concerns in its home region, and now since 2020 in Saudi where the deserts carry a closer comparison to the event’s North African roots. So what it’s like to compete on the Dakar?

“It’s a great feeling, but you know what it is more than anything?” answers Akeel. “It’s actually really humbling because in the stage you realise just how many things have to go in your favour for your performance to succeed. It’s not just what you do as a driver. So many elements are out of your hands. Something can come up, like a rock out of nowhere, and if you don’t download that information and process it you can have a problem. Then again, sometimes you get caught off guard and still you get away with it.

“There’s a lot of luck to it, but at the same time it’s not just luck – you have to be as prepared as possible. I see it with the more experienced drivers: so much more is under their domain, they are less vulnerable to others’ performances, the terrain, to weather conditions. It humbles you to see that so much has to align for you to do well.”

Following her motorcycle accident, Akeel wrote a book called Freefall about her travels around the world and her racing experience. She clearly has a lot to say, especially as her philosophical approach to motor sport is inevitably informed by where she comes from.

“Like night and day,” is her description of the social and cultural change Saudi is going through – particularly its female population. “When we couldn’t drive I didn’t realise that was a hindrance because I was lucky enough to have access to a car that could take me to school or to see my friends. I didn’t feel constricted, I had a happy life. Just because I wasn’t driving the car didn’t mean I was immobile. That being said, when they did change the rule I couldn’t believe how different it felt. I didn’t expect it because rationally I thought I was getting to everywhere I wanted to go: what difference did it make whether I was driving or not? But there is a massive difference actually. It’s so freeing.

“I appreciate it because I have found myself travelling much less. I can spend more time in Saudi without having to get on a plane and have a change of scene. I used to get that feeling at home, even though I had a really nice life. It was a bit slow. There wasn’t too much activity or action. It was OK, it wasn’t bad, but there was just not that much entertainment.”

Unease about Saudi’s troubling human rights record remains but Akeel gently defends her country. “Saudi has been an unknown,” she says. “When I went to boarding school in the UK my friends were all British and really nice girls, but the first conversations we had caught me off guard. They would ask ‘are you allowed to do this or that, shake hands, go out with your face showing?’ Which is fair enough. These are fair questions if you haven’t been to a country and you are shown something on western media that shows ladies wearing black from head to toe and that’s your only reference point.

“However, it’s also inaccurate. While that could be one element – people do exist who cover from head to toe and I respect that as a personal, cultural and religious choice – there are other things going on in Saudi that aren’t as seen or known. Now you can see, in sport, fashion, in how people express themselves in different industries.”

Does she see herself as a pioneer, as breaking new ground? “This question comes up quite often and I always answer it this way,” she replies. “I don’t see it as breaking ground as much as the landscape is changing and opportunities are now readily available. The ground is already broken and I’m walking through it. It comes from the direction of the national agenda which wherever you live trickles down into daily life. I have been able to see this early and because I love to drive so much, any opening in this space means I’m ready: I’ve got my licence, where can I sign up?

“I am one of the first, but definitely not the first. That’s a nice reference for people and I love to show them there’s opportunity.”

She’s treating her racing adventures as a business, giving it “three to five years” to honestly assess if she can make it work as a financially secure career. As for Dakar in January, predictions and targets are futile. “I don’t have expectations in terms of the outcome,” she claims. “Like I said, there are so many variables that come into play. Last year I was eighth in T3 which was excellent and I was very happy. I would love to achieve a higher result this time but I am just going to drive my best and hopefully that honesty, discipline and balance you need in the desert will pay off. So much is out of my hands.”