Portimao, Portugal: The Al Qubaisi sisters, Amnah and Hamda, overcame tough qualifying heat sessions at Portimao Circuit in Portugal to advance to the final rounds of the competitions they had entered and came away much richer in experience competing against some of the best drivers in the world in European conditions. While Hamda participated in Round 2 of the prestigious CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy, Amnah made it to the final of the CIK-FIA European Championship in the OK Class.

For Hamda, it was her second round at the CIK-FIA invitational competition following her participation in round one at the 1.22-km Circuit International d’Aunay Les Bois in France in April.

The Academy Trophy and European Championship witnessed hard-fought competition and both Hamda and Amnah showed that they have the pace and determination to compete against some of the best drivers in the world.

In qualifying, Hamda was nudged out by one of the drivers thereby forcing her to retire, but she returned for the second heat where again a driver took her out when challenging for a spot inside the top six and a place in the Pre-Final. At that point, Hamda had raced from P18 to P10, displaying great pace and determination to advance further.

“Sure, I am disappointed but then this is the nature of racing. On the other, hand I’m really happy with the experience I gained from this round. I now look forward to the final round in the Academy Trophy at Kristianstad in Sweden from August 31-September 4,” said an upbeat Hamda.

In the European Championship, Amnah did extremely well in the Qualifying Heat and the Pre-Final to book herself a spot in the Final race, displaying pace and grit to be on the Final starting grid.

Amnah, who is familiar with the 1.531km Portimao Circuit where she raced with the UAE team in the Rotax World Finals in November 2015, said: “It was a great weekend of racing and I really enjoyed myself. The competition was tough as expected.

“Obviously, finishing in the front would have been fantastic, but reaching the Final against some of the very best drivers in the world I think is an achievement in itself. I take away a lot of positives from this experience and I am sure this will help me as I look to advance my racing career.”