FULL BACKING FOR ALIYYAH AND YASMEEN KOLOC OVER ABUSIVE COMMENTS THEY RECEIVED

18 January 2021

The FIA ETRC condemns the racist and sexist comments directed at ETRC truck racing driver Aliyyah Koloc and her sister Yasmeen, which were made by a driver and a mechanic of a competitor team during the Rallye Dakar.

Such behaviour and these kind of comments have neither a place in motorsport nor in society and cannot and will not be tolerated.

The FIA ETRC is proud to have a number of women on the grid, within the teams and in the industry. This very much reflects the spirit of the FIA ETRC and our paddock, and is expressed by #onetruckfamily - a spirit of belonging together irrespective of gender, race, ethnicity or job role.

The entire FIA ETRC stands fully behind Aliyyah and Yasmeen.

"We pride ourselves in having a diverse grid and we have a number of women involved in all areas of our sport,” said Georg Fuchs, Managing Director at ETRA. “With only 16 years of age, Aliyyah is the youngest ever entrant in the FIA ETRC and she’s given an impressive debut on her first outing last year.

Together with the Buggyra Zero Mileage Racing team she wrote history, when she surpassed two world records in top speed on 500 metres with a standing and a rolling start in 2020.

Aliyyah and her sister Yasmeen are two young girls, who are working hard to carve out a career in motorsport.

The racist and sexist comments that appeared in the onboard footage of a competitor team of another motorsport series cannot and will not be tolerated. There is no place for these mentalities in motorsport or in society.

We will continue to work on increasing gender equality to promote our sport as a world of equal opportunities and stand fully behind the girls.”