DANIA AKEEL Claims Historic First Women’s Victory in W2RC Championship

February 27, 2025

by Maria Guidotti // from www.autosport.com

• DANIA AKEEL made motorsports history by claiming her first W2RC victory in the Challenger category at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, marking the first win by a woman since the world championship launched in 2022. While the men’s Ultimate category grabbed headlines with Al-Attiyah’s dramatic 41-second victory over Lucas Moraes, AKEEL was quietly rewriting the record books in her own right across five grueling stages and 1920km of unforgiving desert terrain.
• The significance of AKEEL’s breakthrough cannot be understated in a sport where women competitors often fly under the radar despite facing the same brutal conditions that separate the contenders from the pretenders. Her victory comes at a crucial time for women’s representation in rally-raid racing, proving that when given competitive machinery and equal opportunity, female drivers can dominate at the highest levels of international competition.
• While the article focuses heavily on the men’s Ultimate category drama, AKEEL’s historic achievement deserved equal billing as a championship-defining moment. Her triumph in the notoriously challenging Abu Dhabi dunes – terrain that even seasoned professionals describe as “unpredictable” and “grueling” – demonstrates the depth of talent that exists when we look beyond the traditional storylines and celebrate the barriers being broken across all categories of the sport.

abu dhabi desert challenge, challenger category, fia cross country rally, w2rc