‘Born for speed’: Alia Abdulsalam makes a splash as first UAE female powerboat driver
Emirati racer will mark her 23rd birthday with debut at Scandinavian Championship
Emirati women are breaking boundaries with each passing day and the latest to join the mission is Alia Abdulsalam – the first Emirati female powerboat racing driver.
Alia is set for a historic debut in the Scandinavian Championship in a G15 powerboat at the Tonsberg Lake in Norway on August 3, which will also mark her 23rd birthday.
Fairooz was a former Formula 4 driver for the UAE before entering the world of sports management. Employed as partnership manager at Adnoc, he was a promoter for the F2 World Championship for three years and has now ventured into football events.
Alia has followed her father since childhood and is familiar with every aspect of each sport he was involved in. She played football in high school and even tried jiu-jitsu, but when given the opportunity behind a powerboat, she took to it like duck to water.
“At the beginning, I was looking up to my father mostly. Seeing him race and his involvement in the sport so passionately encouraged me to start,” Alia told The National.
“Aside from that, I loved the sea and I liked to be challenged. So, all three combined, I got into sports. I played a lot of football and also tried jiu-jitsu, but it is powerboat racing that I fell in love with after my first try.”
Alia had her first go behind a G15 engine on one of her visits to Norway with her father in 2022.
She drove a powerboat for the first time in a non-championship race and impressed her father as well as his Norwegian team manager and former F4 world champion Frode Sundsdal.
