Historic Day Marked by Female Racing Driver as Saudi Women Gain the Right to Drive

Female racing driver Aseel Al Hamad celebrated the end of the ban on women drivers with a lap of honour in a Jaguar F-TYPE.

Aseel, the first female board member of the Saudi Arabian Motor Federation,had never driven on a track in her home country before.

Aseel joined Jaguar in a call for June 24thto be known as World Driving Day – a day when finally, the whole world can enjoy the thrill of being behind the wheel of a car. On World Driving Day Jaguar invites people to share a memory of their best driving moment (image or anecdote) using the #worlddrivingday.

Aseel said: 

“Having loved cars since I was a child, today is highly emotional for me. This is the best driving moment of my life. What better way to kick off World Driving Day than a lap of honour in my home country in a Jaguar F-TYPE – the ultimate car to roar around the track.  I hope people around the world will share in our joy today by sharing their most memorable driving story using #worlddrivingday.”

By creating World Driving Day, Jaguar urges people to remember this historic day and what it means to women, to Saudi Arabia and to world progress in general. As part of its ongoing work withover 40 Universities and Academic institutions globally on future mobility solutions, the company will also be partnering with University in Saudi Arabia to join this global network. The partnership, to be announced later this year, will be a unique exchange to tap into the brightest young minds in Saudi Arabia to shape the company’s future innovations as it moves to ACES (an Autonomous, Connected, Electrified and Shared future). 

Jaguar Land Rover spokesperson, Salman Sultan, Regional Public Relations and Social Media Manager comments:

‘We are delighted to mark this historic day with motorsport expert Aseel Al Hamad as she races for the first time on Saudi soil and launches World Driving Day. This day is a commitment from Jaguar to celebrate this key moment annually for both men and women. This year, we're really excited to collaborate with the brilliant students from Saudi Arabia to shape the future of mobility for people around the world.”

Mahmoud Mirza, National Marketing & CRM Manager at Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Jaguar Land Rover, said: “After the the Royal decree to allow women to drive, announced last year by the Kingdom, we are proud of launching this campaign with the participation of Aseel Al Hamd, which aims to establish June 24thas the “World Driving Day” annually. We at Mohammed Yousuf Naghi Motors seek to support women driving, and to celebrate this historic day with the women of Saudi Arabia, and we are confident of the success of this important step, which will pave the way for further steps of progress for the Kingdom”.