2 Fast 2 Furious 2 Female
Hanan Isah is drifting above gender stereotypes as she campaigns for more women to join motorsport.
Aisha Kabiru Mohamed in Abuja
The first time Hanan Isah got behind the wheel, she was with her brother’s friends, who couldn’t understand why she wanted to try out a “male” sport.
“I remember gripping the wheel, hearing the engine, and thinking, ‘This is it. This is where I belong,’ ” she says. That was five years ago. Isah, known as “The Smoke Queen” in the Nigerian motorsport community, is a car drifter. She was the first woman drifter in the country and is still one of only a few.
“My first drift was unforgettable,” Isah says. “It wasn’t on a racetrack. It was during a random session with a few guys who didn’t even expect me to try.”
On that rough track, she knew she had the goods when she managed to control the spin as the car’s rear tires slid. “I felt unstoppable. I could see the joy and respect in their faces,” she adds.
Isah describes drifting as “controlled chaos” that requires “precision, courage, and a deep connection with your machine”.
When Isah is behind the wheel, tyres spinning and crowd cheering, nothing else matters. But the wider significance is what drives her. “Every drift is resistance – resistance to gender roles, societal expectations, and limitations.”
Isah grew up in Arewa, northern Nigeria, where women face strong cultural restrictions. “Some people just couldn’t accept a woman driving cars, especially from Arewa,” she says.
Being a woman from northern Nigeria in what many still consider a “man’s world”, Isah has been a magnet for bullies, on and offline. “I was called all sorts of names, misunderstood, mocked – even threatened.”
Being the first female drifter means there is no roadmap or guidance from women who came before. “I’ve had to figure it all out from scratch,” Isah says. She has felt particularly alone when she’s suffered setbacks, like the accident that badly damaged her drift car last year. “People who cheered before disappeared. It tested my resilience.”
To ease the path for others, Isah founded an organisation that supports women in motorsports: Smoke Queen Motorsport Initiative. It supports both bikers and car enthusiasts like herself.
She describes it as “a home for fearless dreamers”. Members include Aysha B, a mother of three from Kogi State, who began riding motorcycles in secondary school; Mandu, a 41-year-old biker and roller-skating instructor; and Amirah, a powerbike rider who grew up in Cotonou in Benin.
For all of them, the thrill of the sport is worth the resistance they encounter.
“The best part of the sport is that it keeps us fit and makes us look younger than our age,” laughs Aysha B.
Isah would like to see drifting become a regulated sport taking place in government-approved arenas that meet mandated safety standards.
In the meantime, Isah advocates for events to be held in designated safe zones and closed lots – never on public roads. She insists on drivers wearing the correct gear, like helmets, gloves, and reinforced suits, as well as pre-event car inspections to avoid technical problems that might lead to serious accidents.
Oh this is the briefest insight, and so exciting, thank you! And, and, surely then rich material for a longer story, a documentary or at least a podcast with drivers and riders?