{"id":379198,"date":"2024-12-04T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T19:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/?p=379198"},"modified":"2024-12-05T10:17:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-05T13:17:48","slug":"a-brazilian-racing-in-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/a-brazilian-racing-in-saudi-arabia\/","title":{"rendered":"A Brazilian racing in Saudi Arabia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

S\u00e3o Paulo \u2013 Brazilian Paula Breves, 57, has the unique experience of racing in Saudi Arabia under her belt. She and her teammate, Vilma Rafael, participated in the Rally Jameel<\/a> in the Gulf country in March 2024 and are gearing up to face the competition again next year in March. This time, the race will start in Jordan but will once again pass through familiar Saudi territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been participating in rallies for 16 years, and this was our first international competition. Since we are basically the only duo of Brazilian women with enough experience in this sport, due to the major events we\u2019ve taken part in, we were invited by the Brazilian Automobile Confederation (CBA) to represent our country,\u201d Breves told ANBA in an interview about her work as a driver and her experience in Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The duo Breves and Rafael represented Brazil in a rally in Saudi Arabia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Rally Jameel held its 3rd edition this year, featuring 40 teams. In addition to the Brazilian and Saudi participants, the sporting event also featured pairs from the United States, France, and Canada. Using different equipment and vehicles than what Breves is used to, the competition proved to be quite challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe went without our coach and had only two to three days to train with that equipment (a type of GPS) before the races started. In total, the event lasted four days, covering 1,000 miles. We spent nearly the entire day on each circuit, which made it quite exhausting. But at the same time, I felt very honored by the invitation and gave my best to leave a good impression of our country,\u201d says the athlete.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The
The duo secured first place in the 2023 Mitsubishi Motorsports<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Very proud to represent Brazil, the driver shares that the competition days required a lot of adaptation from her. \u201cAlthough Saudi women only started driving in 2017, they\u2019re excellent drivers and already have more experience in this type of rally, which is different from what we\u2019re used to. In Brazilian competitions, the driver\u2019s strength is more highly demanded, whereas there, navigation plays a more crucial role,\u201d Breves recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had to learn a lot in a short amount of time. Despite all the difficulties, we finished among the top 30 in the competition and were invited to participate again in March next year. The competition will start in Jordan, then pass through locations in Saudi Arabia. This time, since we\u2019ll have more time to train, we aim to cinch a better position.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As she had never competed outside of Brazil before, fear was also present when Breves arrived on Arab soil. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know what to expect, but it ended up being a pleasant surprise. It was a very well-organized competition, and we were treated well and with the utmost respect. I really liked seeing how much the Arab country is encouraging women to drive and participate in rallies,\u201d says Breves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paula Breves in rallies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Holding a degree in Veterinary Medicine, the Brazilian became a rally driver without any initial intention. \u201cI\u2019ve always loved driving, and a few years ago, I started helping my husband as a navigator. I\u2019d accompany him in competitions and pay close attention to what he was doing. Then one day he couldn\u2019t compete, and I replaced him. After that, I never stopped, and since then, I\u2019ve participated in rallies in several states across the country alongside Rafael, who, interestingly, was my dentist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Paula
Paula Breves has a degree in Veterinary Medicine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Unlike Breves, Rafael didn\u2019t have any prior experience in the sport, but over the years, she dedicated herself and learned more. \u201cWe learned by competing, through everyday experiences. Now, with more experience, when we know we\u2019re going to compete, we start by studying the terrain, figuring out which type of tire we\u2019ll have to use, and preparing ourselves,\u201d Breves says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning, the athlete competed against women, but as she moved up in categories, she found no more female competitors to race against. So, she started competing against men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo this day, this is still a predominantly male sport, and because of that, we\u2019re the only all-female duo competing in the Master category, one of the highest levels of Brazilian rally. While I act as the driver, my partner works as the navigator, meaning she\u2019s responsible for taking care of the coordinates, telling me where to turn, when to accelerate, and when to slowdown,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Breves, who first started participating in rallies as a hobby, now says the sport has basically become her profession. \u201cWhen I’m not participating in rallies, which is quite rare, as there are competitions year-round, I work with an organization that cares for wild animals and with an app that helps organize people\u2019s food pantry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 16 years, Breves celebrates various achievements in the sport, including first place at the Mitsubishi Motorsports in 2023 and third place on the podium at the Rally Estado de S\u00e3o Paulo in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:
<\/em>From Brazil\u2019s football fields to Saudi Arabia\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translated by Guilherme Miranda<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supplied<\/div>
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Paula Breves spoke to ANBA about her experience participating in the Jameel Rally on Saudi soil earlier this year. She and her teammate Vilma Rafael have been invited to another edition of the competition in 2025, starting in Jordan, and are determined to improve their ranking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2342,"featured_media":379177,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[109],"tags":[11910,34545,5898,51818,9537,27311,5205,51819,27023,9595,5910],"class_list":{"0":"post-379198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-arabia-saudita-en","9":"tag-brasileira-en","10":"tag-brazilians","11":"tag-competitions","12":"tag-jordan-en","13":"tag-jordania-en-2","14":"tag-racing","15":"tag-rallies","16":"tag-rally-en-2","17":"tag-saudi-arabia-en","18":"tag-sports"},"wps_subtitle":"Paula Breves spoke to ANBA about her experience participating in the Jameel Rally on Saudi soil earlier this year. She and her teammate Vilma Rafael have been invited to another edition of the competition in 2025, starting in Jordan, and are determined to improve their ranking.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anba.com.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}