INTERNATIONAL: Kenya’s Maxine Wahome emerged victorious, as the winner of the first-ever all-women’s rally competition held in the East African country.

Dubbed the Lioness Rally, the race was held on Sunday (March 27) and attracted 8 teams, all made of female race drivers.

With veteran driver Safina Khan on navigation, 27-year-old Wahome finished the 12-kilometer race circuit in her Subaru Impreza, beating runner-up Tash Tundo by 13 seconds.

Motorsports are still predominantly male-dominated, but rally driver and clerk of the Lioness Rally Joan Nesbitt hopes this inaugural race will go a long way in challenging the stereotypes of women's participation in the sport.

Maxine Wahome Says:

"If we have more rallies like this we can get to having a WRC (WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP) of only women but it takes a while. So hopefully, we can have a big Kenyan one and see where we can go from there but at least now you can see people are more interested. There is a lot of spectators more than we have had, even in the Kenya nationals, so with the ladies in the sport I guess people are interested in the ladies, the want to see the action."

Clerk Of The Course, Lioness Rally, Joan Nesbitt Saying

"I would like to see more women coming and joining as they have seen now it is not that hard. Everybody thought it was a big deal but it is actually not that hard."

Rally Fan, Senole Wanjiru Saying:

"I think an event like this is so important because I am sure there some women who are shy in joining and they are not sure whether they will be able to find a car or be able to just be part of it, and seeing that there are first-timers here and they were able to join and they did their best which I think just inspires women to come out of their shell."

Given the strong turn-out of spectators, organizers of the rally hope that this inaugural race will drum up interest and support for more women to join motorsports.