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Palestinian Champions ‘Drift’ Car Racing for Women

Noor Daoud was the only woman to take to the track in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, in an interview with reporters said: “I want to show the world that just because we are under occupation, it doesn’t mean we will stay holed up in our homes.”

Noor Daoud was the only woman to take to the track in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where the Palestinian racer impressed the crowds with her “drift” driving skills.

 

Daoud has mastered the art of drift — deliberately oversteering to make the rear wheels skid — and traveled to Sharm el-Sheikh for a regional competition.

 

On the sidelines of the competition, the 27-year-old said:

 

“Since I was little I’ve become used to meeting up with the guys to play football or tennis.”

 

Racing now dominates her life, she explained after she zigzagged in Sharm el-Sheikh around the tarmac track and dodged obstacles as thick white smoke and sparks came off her car.

 

There are more women racing cars in the region, including four other Palestinians who featured alongside Daoud in a “Speed Sisters” documentary.

 

It has been more than a decade since Daoud first raced, borrowing a car from her mother who she credits as being the sole supporter of her ambitions.

 

She learned drifting “on the streets of Palestine” in 2010, before moving to Dubai where she now lives.

 

But drifting is more than just sport and spectacle for Daoud.

 

She said:

 

“We are under occupation so this helps us, it helps me to drive to feel free.”

 

She added:

 

“I want to show the world that just because we are under occupation, it doesn’t mean we will stay holed up in our homes.”