Patricia Denning & Gretchen Swinburne will represent Ireland at Rally Jameel in Saudia Arabia
Rally Jameel is a navigation off-road rally for women organised by the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF). The event starts on March 4th 2024 and continues over 4 days through the desert dunes and mountainous terrain, covering 1600 km with the finish on International Women’s day on March 8th in Jeddah on the Red Sea.
Taking to the driver’s seat, Denning is one of the top female Motorsport Drivers in Ireland with a wealth of driving experience having competed in over 150 events in her career to date. With a very impressive motorsport CV she is a double Ladies Forestry Rally Champion, and holds the unique accolade of being the only female in the world to have won a FIA Rallycross Super Final.
Denning has also won numerous class championships in Rallycross, Autocross, Retrospective Rallies and Endurance Trials and is the current Ladies Autocross Grass Surface Champion. She has competed in numerous Retrospective Rallies which are run over 2-3 days, which include selectives on various surfaces, average speed challenges and night navigation sections. She is experienced with working closely with her co-driver negotiating all sorts of obstacles on everchanging road conditions. Her tenacious attitude coupled with her impressive car control on all surfaces ensures Denning has all the skills required for this unique and hugely challenging Navigation Rally.
Alongside Denning, Swinburne takes on the role of navigator – an equally demanding role given this is a Navigation Rally and not a speed event. Swinburne started out her motorsport career in 2015 as a navigator in stages rallying. An impressive start with which she won the Junior Border Championship in her first year. Some highlights of navigating in stages includes a win the Laois Heartlands Twincam Challenge and a class win in Donegal International Junior Rally. Adding to her collection, she also won the Combilift Perpetual Cup two years in a row.
In the 2022/2023 season Swinburne then switched her focus to navigation trials and in her first year successfully won her class in the Motorsport Ireland Navigation TrialChampionship.
Denning and Swinburne are proud members of the Garda Siochana Motorsport Club (GSMC) and Monaghan Motor Club respectively. Denning is also a member of the Motorsport Ireland Women in Motorsport Commission. Both Denning and Swinburne are keen advocates for women’s participation in Motorsport.
Commenting on the announcement, Motorsport Ireland President Aiden Harper said “We are thrilled to have Patricia and Gretchen represent Ireland at Rally Jameel and offer our sincere gratitude to the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) for this incredible invitation. 2024 has been an incredibly exciting year for Irish Motorsport so far with the WRC bid and this event invitation only solidifies how well regarded Irish motorsport is on the world stage. Wishing Patricia and Gretchen the very best of luck!”
