We’re only at the tip of the sand dune when it comes to motor racing in Saudi Arabia. The rate of the sport’s expansion has been rapid since Formula E first arrived in the Kingdom in 2018, and it won’t be slowing down any time soon.

The ePrix in Diriyah, which took its bow in the same year Saudi’s archaic ban on women drivers was finally lifted, was among a number of pioneering cultural and sporting landmarks that signalled a conscious fundamental shift, politically, socially and economically. The powerful desert state is finally opening its doors to the rest of the world, and is using sport as a powerful tool to influence tourism and foreign interest.

The stunning stages of the new-look Dakar Rally in Saudi must be seen to be believed