Jordanian rally driver Shaker Jweihan is carrying on the family tradition after being inspired by the exploits of his aunt who is a trailblazing figure in the region's motorsport world.
The 28-year-old multiple Jordan Rally, Time Attack and Hill Climb champion is building his career in the Middle East Rally Championship with ambitions that extend beyond the Middle East.
A Middle East MERC 2 champion and Jordan’s first Red Bull motorsport athlete, Jweihan sat down with The National to reflect on his journey, his influences and the financial obstacles that can overshadow a career.
Jweihan's aunt, Nancy Al Majali, is one of the region’s rally pioneers and among a small number of Jordanian women to establish themselves in motorsport. In 2000, along with her Lebanese-born friend Nadia Shnoudeh, she created the first all-women racing team in Jordan.
For Jweihan, his maternal aunt offered a path into a world he dreamt of. “She was a huge influence to me,” he said. “I would say the first steps I took in rally, she was always next to me and she sat next to me for two years.
“Even now, she goes to all of the races with me. She's always there. Hopefully she's going to stay with me along my career and help me a lot.”
He currently competes in NR4 within the Middle East Rally Championship, a class he describes as “the second fastest category. And the most well-known here in the region”.
Built around production-based cars adapted for rally conditions, it sits just below the championship’s top tier. Jweihan's next target is Rally2, the leading international category beneath Rally1 in the FIA World Rally Championship structure, a step that would move him closer to the global stage.
His own path began with radio-controlled cars and an early fixation on anything powered by an engine. “I kept on convincing my parents to buy me a kart for maybe like four to five years. So I got into karting at 11 years old,” he said.
He began racing locally in Jordan and won championships as a teenager. His family, however, insisted on a traditional path alongside sport, so he studied finance in the UK, completing an undergraduate degree in London.
Financing restrictions would prove problematic, though, with Jweihan deciding to stop his racing career for three years while he finished his degree.
He returned to Jordan in late 2019 just as the world slowed down during the pandemic. Unable to apply for jobs or pursue a conventional route into business, motorsport became his outlet. Entering the speed test scene, he won the Time Attack championship and continued to build momentum.
Jweihan always felt the support of his family, though it came with caution. While his aunt helped allay fears regarding safety, there were concerns about the future.
“There isn't a big future in it,” he explained of their worries, conscious of the challenges in attracting attention and sponsorship in the region. But he was determined. “I kept on saying, no, I'll race. So I raced for three years during the speed tests and I kept on winning.”
Rallying followed in 2023. “I did my first race, which was really bad. And then the second race I won the rally and I was the youngest male winner in Jordan and the region.” The results strengthened belief that he could turn his passion into a career.
Rallying demands endurance and precision on ever-changing terrain. Events run over three to four days across multiple stages, each around 20 to 30 kilometres long, with drivers competing individually against the clock rather than wheel to wheel.
There is no practice on the race roads, only reconnaissance and pace notes, and results are decided by cumulative time across all stages, with multiple categories competing in the same event.
Central to rallying is the co-driver, whose voice guides the driver’s every movement. “It's a partnership” said Jweihan. “It's a 50-50 partnership with me and the co-driver because he is my eyes inside the car. If he's a second late, then I'm a second late into the corner.”
Finding that chemistry took time. He has changed five co-drivers in four years in search of the right synch. His current partner, Mustafa Juma, has been with him for two years and their relationship extends beyond performance.
“We are really good together. We're really close as well.” The co-driver also requires mechanical competence, as problems arise between stages and cars often need to be repaired on the spot.
The sport is physically brutal in ways outsiders often underestimate. Jweihan says he can lose two kilos in a day. Inside the car during Middle East rallies, temperatures can climb to 50 or 55° Celsius. In those conditions, the car becomes akin to a moving sauna. The real strain lies in focus, translating a stream of instructions into precise timing while managing heat, fatigue and mechanical risk.
When asked about any fears he carries inside the car, he insists there is only one. “The financial burden is really, really, really high on any driver. And obviously, when you first start, there are no sponsors that would know of you or that would support you.
“My only fear, each and every race is for me to be able to get the budget for the next race or the next season.
“The main difference between us, compared to the drivers in the Gulf region, they drive as if there is no tomorrow.”
Financial security influences aggression and can limit the expression of raw speed. “For us, you have to mainly drive carefully just because you don't want to make any mistakes to get the results that you want,” Jweihan added.
He recognises the level of performance financial freedom could unlock which is why sponsorship becomes vital.
In early 2025, after a four-year pursuit, he secured Red Bull backing which he described as “a dream come true”. The partnership brought validation and visibility, even as the financial equation continues to require management.
An advocate for the growth of racing culture and infrastructure, he believes the sport’s profile across the region is rising steadily. “Luckily having all of these F1 races in the region really raised the bar and a lot of people now in the region know the sport,” Jweihan said. “I know F1 is not similar to rallying but it raised awareness in the region.
“The sport is growing, and rallying as well is really growing. There are a lot of world races in the region, which is great. A lot more youngsters are getting into it, which is really nice.”
Competing in the 2026 Middle East Rally Championship alongside his co-driver Juma, Jweihan has opened the season with category victories in Oman and Qatar and leads the standings. As his profile rises, so too does the possibility that he may inspire the next generation of drivers in Jordan, just as his aunt once did for him.
