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Bahrain’s motoring maverick, Martyna Ewa Al-Qassab, has stepped up her game and is competing in the PRO category of the 2000cc Championship being conducted by the Circuit Racing Club (CRC) at the Bahrain International Circuit.
The first woman to shatter this glass ceiling, Al-Qassab and her team, TeamMarte, are already off to a great start to the 2019-20 championship season, sitting at fourth position out of 16 cars, competing amongst faster and more experienced drivers.
Podium pioneer Al-Qassab said: “The main unanticipated change was the upgrade to the PRO category as my last season lap times were behind that of the average PRO driver, due to a mix of a number of factors, main being performance upgrades to the cars. Hence our strategy this year is focused on consistency, reliability and race pace. We are still eager to secure sponsorship to power in car upgrades needed in the PRO category, as TeamMarte’s proven track record in results is unquestionable, so powered by the right partner who is passionate about competition and striving for the win we are confident we can reach the podium again.”
The first race of the season, held at the beginning of this month, was bittersweet for TeamMarte, as Martyna set her fastest lap time, despite a collision at turn eight, registered by the CRC as a race incident.
The collision left a visible dent in her machine by Al-Qassab stayed on-course and kept her cool as she sped to a fourth-place finish in the race.
She added: “Once I felt the impact from the other car, my car literally jumped over to the other side of the track but I managed to maintain control of the machine. Yet the damage to car was unfortunate due to the effort and time gone into it the original build. My husband, Ramzi was very proud and actually impressed with the way I managed to keep composed under pressure of the incident. As he understands the racing complexities, he is a great voice of reason to assess how or whether such incidents could be avoided.”
She credits her husband and family, who are her “pit team” for her success on and off the track, saying: “A few nights before the race we review data and speak about what we should try in the coming race. On the day of the race we start with getting the entire car packed, along with lunch for the children and off we go. I stay calm and relaxed before the race and after a little pep talk with Ramzi my focus really kicks in five minutes before starting the engines.”
Since the Polish business development executive became the first woman to reach the podium in 2017, she has worked with the local motorsports community to support each other and also encourage more women to participate in the sport.
She is the chairman and founder of Yalla Banat, a forum for women racers across the Middle-East, aiming to ‘inspire the next generation of women achievers, especially in motorsports.’
She adds: “The number of women in racing has grown globally and specifically across the Gulf, we see a number of girls challenging the norm and making great strides across the racing community. We were fortunate enough to have had Amna Al Qubaisi from UAE participate as a key note speaker at the Yalla Banat 2018 event, she is a great inspiration to us all and since Yalla Banat 2019 we have been connecting with a vast array of girls interested in racing from facilitating the first Saudi girl to compete in the Bahrain AutoX last year to working at finding the next generation of girl racers from Bahrain.”
Al-Qassab and TeamMarte will be competing on November 1 in the second race of the PRO season.
@teammarte on Instagram for details of the race as well as upcoming Yalla Banat initiatives.
