The FIA is delighted to announce that more than 80 applications from 37 countries have been received from its ASNs for the joint Women in Motorsport and Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) cross country rally selection and training programme. The process of selecting eight drivers and eight co-drivers to attend the final selection process in Qatar in November now commences, which will result in a driver and co-driver being offered a fully-funded drive in the 2016 Sealine Cross Country Rally, a round of the FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.

“We have been overwhelmed by the response to one of the biggest projects the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission has embarked on and this has, in no small part, been possible because of the support of Nasser Al-Attiyah, the President of QMMF, who is actively helping us encourage more women into motor sport,” commented President of the Commission, Michèle Mouton. “We really have to thank all our ASNs worldwide for their enthusiasm in promoting this opportunitiy to women drivers and co-drivers in their countries because it is a great chance for them to try this spectacular discipline. And, with this level of interest, we hope to be able to further develop cross country in the future. Now the process of assessing the applications begins; it won’t be an easy task, and hopefully one made more difficult by the calibre of applicants.”

The initial selection of 16 competitors will be undertaken by Mouton, Dakar victor Jutta Kleinschmidt, multiple rally and cross country winning co-driver Fabrizia Pons, and a representative from QMMF. This will be made from a truly international list of 87 applicants from six continents, 43 of whom applied as drivers and 44 as co-drivers. The final list of competitors selected to attend the five-day training and final selection camp in Qatar (2-7 November) will be announced later this month and will additionally include a wildcard entry from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, should a candidate not be included in the selected 16.

The project, which was the brainchild of Mouton, Kleinschmidt and Al-Attiyah, seeks to find new female talent for the cross country rallying discipline. The training camp in the desert will cover all the driving, equipment and navigational techniques required for this unique discipline, as well as mechanics and rally strategy. By the end of the five days in Qatar, one driver and one co-driver will be selected to team up for what will undoubtedly be one of the toughest challenges of their lives on April 2016’s Sealine Cross Country Rally.