UAE's 'Gazelles' dispel male biases with first supercar rally

They socialised, shared stories and laughed together. Some are engineers, some are entrepreneurs, others are housewives. But these women all share a common passion: their love of supercars.

Dozens of women gathered over the weekend in Dubai to take part in a car rally across the United Arab Emirates.

The event was organised by the region’s first ever all-female supercar owners club, the Arabian Gazelles, and saw 30 women living in the UAE and abroad take part in a four-day tour of the country.

"We do not need permission to drive:" A participant at the event.

Arabian Gazelles was created eight years ago by Hanan Mazouzi Sobati as a way to give women a seat at the table in the automotive scene.

"It’s really a product of sheer frustration ... because women were overlooked in this automotive scene, and I thought someone has to do something about it and to bring in more women and to drive the change,” Mazouzi Sobati said as she drove her Lamborghini on the road to Fujairah.

Watching Formula 1, not cartoons

Her passion for cars goes back as far as she can remember. While kids her age were watching cartoons, she says she was watching Formula 1.

Flanked by craggy formations, the female petroheads navigate a highway in the countryside.

And the passion for supercars has now become the driving force for something even bigger: changing people’s mentalities and perception over women and supercars.

Mazouzi Sobati saw how it was mainly men who were invited to car experiences and automotive events. When she set up Arabian Gazelles she says she was the only woman at these events, and even then, she went instead of her husband who was the one getting the invites, despite him not being a supercar enthusiast.

She said brands wouldn’t support an all-woman car club at the start.

"We want people to stop thinking there’s always a man because they see a woman in a supercar; either a husband, a partner, a sugar daddy,” she said.

Participants pose for a keepsake during the first all-woman supercar rally in Dubai. Photos: Associated Press

They have come a long way however, and Mazouzi Sobati is slowly seeing perceptions change.

As part of the Arabian Gazelle rally, the women were invited by BMW to test out cars on the race tracks.

"We do not need permission to drive, or to choose what kind of cars to drive. We do not need permission to have this passion,” she said. "We do not wait for a seat at the table, if the seat is not available, we create the table and we all sit.”

Associated Press