Nothing in her smiling face suggests this predisposition to such surges of adrenaline. Yet, almost thirty years ago, motor racing absorbed Samira Bouhassoune's body and soul. She remembers that in March 1988, in the city of Mohammedia, men were smiling when they saw her. "It was only when I won my first victory that they realized they were facing a female pilot. And they had to accept to be overtaken by a woman!”, she said, amused. In 1988, she was the first female Moroccan Arab and African motor racing driver on closed circuit. Ten years later, she became champion of Morocco in her category and received, one year later, the first degree sports Wissam. In 2002, she won again the national championship. Samira Bouhassoune grew up in Fez with a mother who, being widow at the age of twenty-four, passed on to Samira her strong values. In 1981, Samira got married and it was her husband who introduced her to motor sports. In 1983 her son Mehdi was born, today a professional driver whom she accompanies in his competitions. Whenever Mehdi leaves, Samira becomes worried. "Mehdi has the kamikaze energy of his father but the wisdom of his mother. I trust him. "Yet as reasonable as one can be, Samira knows that zero risk does not exist. In 2009, on the Tit Mellil track, the car that she tried to overtake was losing oil: "My car slid and crashed into a tree at 180 kilometers (112 miles) per hour. Cervical fracture. I was immobilized four months. But the ace driver did not let herself be overcome by fear: "A racing driver, as long as he can, goes on driving”, she says.
Despite the travels and competitions, she works every day her physical strength and concentration. Since 2007, she has been Vice-President of the Royal Moroccan Federation of Motor Sports and, in the same year, founded the “Flamme des sports mécaniques” club. In 2010, she joined the "Women in Motorsport" Commission of the International Automobile Federation.