Theeba Motorsport

Theeba Motorsport is a Saudi Arabian motor racing team founded by the Kingdom's first female professional racing driver, Reema Juffali. The team competes in the GT World Challenge Europe sportscar series using the Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.[1]

Saudi Arabia Theeba Motorsport
Founded2022
Founder(s)Saudi Arabia Reema Juffali
Current seriesGT World Challenge Europe
Former seriesInternational GT Open
Current driversSaudi Arabia Reema Juffali
Germany Fabian Schiller
Estonia Ralf Aron
Switzerland Alain Valente
Switzerland Yannick Mettler
Websitewww.theebamotorsport.com

History

Foundation

Theeba Motorsport was founded by Reema Juffali in 2022 to facilitate Saudi Arabian access to and participation in motorsport through a series of engineering, mechanical and commercial internship and apprenticeship programmes.[2]

The team aspires to one day compete at the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race under a Saudi Arabian racing licence.[3]

2022 season

Theeba Motorsport joined the International GT Open Pro-Am grid for the 2022 season with Juffali and Nürburgring 24 Hours winner Adam Christodoulou forming the team’s driver lineup.[4]

Racing a Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, the team tasted victory on debut by securing back-to-back class victories at the Circuito do Estoril in Portugal.[5] With this result, Juffali became the first Saudi woman to win an international motor race. The team scored its first pole position one weekend later at the Circuit Paul Ricard and secured its third class victory at the French venue.[6]

After retiring from races at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and Hungaroring, the team bounced back at the Red Bull Ring to score its fourth Pro-Am victory of the season.[7][8][9]

In the final race at the Red Bull Ring, Juffali was involved in a weekend-ending accident after being rear-ended by Dominik Schraml.[10] As a result, the team was forced to withdraw from the penultimate weekend of the season at Monza due to ongoing repair work.[11] Juffali and Christodoulou returned for the 2022 finale at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and secured back-to-back class podiums by finishing third in Races One and Two.[12]

Despite missing three races in the 13-race campaign, Theeba Motorsport finished as the runners-up in the Pro-Am Championship with 57 points and finished sixth overall with 51 points.[13]

2023 season

For 2023, Theeba Motorsport joined the GT World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup grid, to compete in the series' Sprint and Endurance Cups.[14] In March 2023, it was confirmed that 2015 Italian F4 champion, Ralf Aron, and Switzerland's Alain Valente would join Juffali to form the team's driver lineup.[15] Yannick Mettler later joined the team for the 24 Hours of Spa, while Fabian Schiller filled in for Aron at the Misano, Hockenheim, and Valencia Sprint Cup rounds.[16][17]

The team secured its first Sprint Cup podium at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with Juffali and Schiller finishing second in class.

Results

International GT Open

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Superscript  indicates overall position) (* indicates season still in progress.)

Year Car Class Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pos. Points
2022 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Pro-Am Saudi Arabia Reema Juffali
United Kingdom Adam Christodoulou		 EST LEC SPA HUN RBR MNZ CAT 2nd 57[18]
14 13 57 13 Ret Ret DNS 13 Ret WD WD 38 311

References
  1. Goodwin, Graham. "Theeba Motorsport Step Up To Full Season In GT World Challenge Europe". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  2. Smith, Damien. "Reema Juffali, the Saudi racer starting her own team: 'It's about sharing – it's not my story anymore'". motorsportmagazine.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  3. Watkins, Gary. "Saudi female racer Juffali starts sportscar team, targeting Le Mans". Autosport.com. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  4. "Reema Juffali launches Theeba Motorsport". racers-behindthehelmet.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  5. "Two class wins for SPS Automotive Performance in International GT Open in Estoril". automobilesport.com. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  6. "Saudi racer Juffali delighted as Theeba Motorsport triumphs on International GT Open debut in France". ArabNews.com. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  7. Goodwin, Graham. "Pulcini & Hites Take Championship Lead After Spa Enduro Win". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  8. Goodwin, Graham. "Team GT AMG Takes Race 1 Win At Hungaroring". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  9. "Saudi's Reema Juffali battles to Pro-Am victory in Austria for Theeba Motorsport". arabnews.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  10. Goodwin, Graham. "Just A Point In It For Championship After Race 2 At Red Bull Ring". dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  11. "ACCIDENT DAMAGE RULES TEAM OUT OF INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN MONZA WEEKEND". theebamotorsport.com. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  12. "Saudi's Reema Juffali helps Theeba Motorsport to Pro-Am runners-up spot in debut season". executive-bulletin.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  13. "Saudi's Reema Juffali leads Theeba Motorsport to Pro-Am runners-up spot in debut season". arabnews.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
  14. Le Mouëllic, Pierre-Louis. "Theeba Motorsports sur la saison complète en GT World Challenge Europe". endurance24.fr. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  15. Lloyd, Daniel. "Weekly Racing Roundup (3.20.23)". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  16. "YANNICK METTLER TO JOIN THEEBA MOTORSPORT AS FOURTH DRIVER FOR SPA 24H". theebamotorsport.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  17. "THEEBA MOTORSPORT CLOSE TO PODIUM FINISH IN FANATEC GT WORLD CHALLENGE SPRINT CUP AT MISANO". theebamotorsport.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
  18. "Championship Classification" (PDF). gtopen.net. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
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