“A woman and a rally? What are you doing with cars? You are a mother of three children...“ – my friends told me when I decided to participate in the biggest off-road car racing competition for women.

I came to love motor sport because of my family. My father was a race car driver in the Soviet Union and my childhood memories are filled with images of him getting his race car ready. I always wanted to be a part of this process, so when my father switched to off-road cars, I became his navigator at the age of 17. This is how I became interested with off-roading. I liked the adrenaline and adventures, however for a long time it was only a hobby.

I studied in France where I got married and had 3 children. In 2017, after my children became older, I decided to return to motor sport. I wanted to participate in the most prestigious off-road rally for women (Gazelle Rally) in Morocco.

My family members were not as supportive. Even though I came to love this sport because of them, a woman in a rally was something that they could hardly imagine. I faced even more resistance from the society. In social media they made comments like „Oily hands are well and good but show us a photo where you cook food for your children, act like a mother...“ However, I didn’t give up for 2 years. I knew that I would achieve my goal because it was what I wanted with my whole heart.

I found 33 sponsors for the Gazelle Rally. In 2019, I started in Nice and travelled to Morocco. I was proud that I was waving Georgian flag in Sahara Desert. I was a Georgian female race car driver.

When I returned from Morocco, I decided to create a rally raid in Georgia in order to contribute to raising awareness about my country. Rally raid is a motor sport and tourism combined: within 1 week, participants from different countries of the world should cover 1500km in the country, i.e. travel cross-country.

We created an international off-road rally raid for women, Rally Adventure Georgia. I wanted to break stereotypes and illustrate that women can be in motor sport and handle not only the wheel but also the difficulties associated with off-roading.

I am especially happy that with my work I have encouraged other women to participate. In the first rally raid held in Georgia, 5 Georgian crews participated and 3 of them included women who were taking part in a rally for the first time. This motivates me to give an example to as many women as possible, to let them discover and do what gives them pleasure, to destroy the useless boundaries created by the society, so that no one asks: „A woman and a rally?“ Yes, a woman and a rally!