Rally Jameel Puts Saudi Women Behind the Wheel

These are the Bakhashab sisters. This year they participated in Rally Jameel, the first off-road navigational rally just for women in Saudi Arabia.

Noor, the navigator, got her required driver's license two days before the start of the rally. 

Here's driver Fawziah looking radiant behind the wheel.

The sisters drove an Isuzu MU-X in the rally.

Passing by Saq Mountain, rising 600 feet from the otherwise flat desert floor.

Other favorite competitors were Zain Said and Nada Hamzah both from Saudi Arabia. The duo showed chutzpah by showing up in a full-size Ram 1500 and placed 17th.

Manar Alesayi from Saudi Arabia and her navigator, Lauren Bradley from the UK, also made an impression for their can-do attitude and riotous humor. They took their Jeep Wrangler Rubicon to an 11th-place finish.

In the end it was Dakar winner Annie Seel and Extreme-E driver Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky who took first place in a Toyota RAV4.

The Bakhashab sisters finished 16th.

Along the way some teams learned the hard way about approach angles.

Other teams got a hard lesson in tires.

Keep scrolling for more photos from Rally Jameel.