Germany’s Edith Weiss is the sole female driver in the Kuwait Rally next week.
Agencies/Kuwait City, Kuwait
Germany driver Edith Weiss will be the only female driver on the entry list when the Kuwait International Rally gets underway next weekend (March 12-14).
The Basil Salem Al-Sabah Motor Racing Club (BMRC) and the Kuwait International Automobile Club (KIAC) have attracted an impressive 21-car entry for the second round of the 2015 FIA Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), but Weiss will face the added pressure of needing to finish to ensure that a female completes the 13-stage gravel rally through the Kuwaiti deserts.
“This will be my second attempt at the Kuwait Rally,” enthused the German, who is an avid supporter of rallying in the Gulf region and is entered at the wheel of a Group N Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. “Last year, I really enjoyed the rally and finished 14th overall, third in Group N and won the prize for being the first lady.”
Weiss teams up with Greek navigator Vicky Psaraki for her Kuwaiti challenge on an event that runs under the chairmanship of Sheikh Athbi Nayef Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah. The pair began the season well by finishing a fine eighth overall and third in the Group N Trophy at the QMMF Qatar International Rally.
“Kuwait has very nice, fast stages, which are not as rough as those we experienced in Qatar and there is less risk of collecting flat tyres or damaging the car.”
Away from her programme of events in the Middle East in recent years, Weiss is a veteran of 17 WRC events and has competed in rallies as far afield as Argentina and Cyprus.
The German finished third overall in last year’s Group N category in the Middle East rally series and won the Ladies Cup. She is also the only woman ever to achieve a top three finish in the Group N category at a round of the MERC.