'We are very competitive': Emirati Qubaisi sisters on why they race

THEY'RE CHAMPION KARTERS encouraged by their Le Mans racer father Khaled Al Qubaisi, travelling the world and making a name for themselves as serious trophy contenders. Just last month sisters Amna, 15, and Hamda, 14, Al Qubaisi took part in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy competition in Portugal and advanced to their respective finals.
It is no wonder then that technology company Huawei honor has tied up with them to hammer home its goal of being a 'Brand For the Brave' and inspiring young people in this region.
Here we catch up with the two to find out more.
 
What made you decide on your relationship with Huawei honor? What message do you think you can take to other young people?
Amna: I feel that Huawei honor is a really great company and they have a huge future ahead of them - that's why we chose them. They are sending an amazing message to people that with failure, there is success. It doesn't matter if you think you can't do something, no matter what people think.  Honor sends the message that if you want to do it, you can do it!   

Given the initiative's message, do you believe you have always been brave? Is there anything you're afraid of?
Amna: Before now, I used to be really shy and I wasn't really very brave. I never thought it was inside of me; but once I started to race I started finding it inside of me, I started to become more aggressive in reaching for what I wanted as well as more strong and powerful. That is how I started becoming brave. Racing has really inspired me.
Hamda: We are racing in what is a male dominated sport, so it is hard to drive against them.
Amna: Because of this we are trying to stand up and show the world that women can be a part of motor sports. That message is what makes us stronger and make us go beyond our limits each day.

When did you become interested in Karting and at what age did you start? How supportive is your father? Do you think you would have become karters if he had not been a racer?
Amna: I started when I was fourteen.
Hamda: I started when I was twelve.
Amna: When we were younger, our conversations with our father were always about racing; what the tracks were like and what the other drivers were like - everything and anything to do with racing. Then we started watching him on the TV, going to support him and watching him race. After a while, me and my sister were like, "hey why don't we try that?" and that's how we got into it.
Hamda: If we didn't have a father that inspired us to race I think we would still have gotten into it because we love motor sports so much.

Who are your racing inspirations?
Amna: I look up to my dad, most of all because he inspired me to race in the first place. Then I would say my coach, as he provides us with all the tips and advice, and also watching him race has really helped us.
Hamda: Khalid Al Qassimi, I really look up to him, he is a really good driver. He is a rally driver but he has really inspired me and that has also encouraged me to pursue motor sports.  

Do you intend to make a career out of the sport? If so, what is the ultimate racing ambition and if not, what would you like to go into?
Amna: I really want to work my way up motor sports. So I want to go step by step from karting to single seater, to Formula 4 and then eventually we will make our way up to Formula 1, hopefully.  Actually, I am all about racing, I have nothing else in mind other than racing; but studying is really important too - in case something happens, there is always a backup plan.

What would you say to encourage more young women to enter racing? Do you think it is an easy pursuit for women, in general, but especially in the Middle East? Have you ever encountered any opposition in your careers so far and what was your reaction?
Amna: If women are into cars or planning on doing something different, motor sport is the best option we think.
Because we are the only two Arabs who are racing, we want to inspire all the other women in the Arab World.
Honestly, in terms of facing adversity, motor sport is both easy and also it's a sport where you have to overcome many challenges. When you are on track everybody is equal so everybody faces challenges, from losing a position to gaining a position, to winning to having bad luck on track, everything and anything can happen.

What's it like travelling the world and racing? What are the highlights and what are the difficulties?
Amna: It is really exciting meeting different drivers and driving on different tracks, you get to face new challenges every day, and every day is a learning day for both of us.
The best part of travelling with Karting is that we love exploring new tracks, testing on new tracks, on new cars, on different tyres, different engines and facing new drivers - that is the best part.

Do you ever race against each other? How does that feel?
Amna: We are both very competitive with each other, even more so if we were in the same race. But now we are both in two different categories so we don't have that chance any more.
Hamda: I'm definitely the most competitive! But actually, we have different styles of driving, so if you put me and Amna together, it would make the perfect driver. Amna is more aggressive and tough, while I am smoother and more aware of what I am doing.

How important is personal technology in today's racing world?
Amna: Our smartphones can be really helpful when we are on the go. So if we don't have a simulator, we can watch on board videos of different tracks and different drivers and learn from it before we go and race.
david@khaleejtimes.com