Nineteen-year-old Queen Kalimpinya was reeling in disbelief. She had come to oversee her friend’s participation in a beauty pageant from the rugged world of outdoor games where she felt at home as one of the guys. But as slender women adorned in full-faced makeup gracefully paraded on stage, Kalimpinya, once just a spectator, now stood among them. Never in a million years would she have thought she would be a contestant in the Miss Rwanda 2017 competition. After each round, she would often leave the stage, laughing incredulously at the unexpected turn of events.
She carefully selected her outfits, opting for heels and dresses that she could manage to walk in. Everything from catwalking to public speaking had to be taught to her by her friends. The competition progressed through its various stages; she approached each one in her own endearing, quirky way, hoping for the best. To her surprise, she won the affection of the audience: earning the title of third runner-up.
“So, how then did I transition from the runway to the cockpit, you ask?” Kalimpinya, now 26, leaned forward at a restaurant table, the backdrop of gray fabric chairs accentuating her presence against the unusually overcast Kigali sky. “Well, you see, I was a cockpit girl before the runway,” she answered with a smile.
Kalimpinya is currently the only female rally pilot in Rwanda since her transition from navigator in 2022. A familiar face in the Rwandan motorsport scene, she has participated in seven races, with four instances of taking the wheel as a pilot and securing two top-5 finishes.
Like the thousands who watched her Miss Rwanda journey unfold in 2017, Kalimpinya found herself grappling with the swift turn of events. Yet, her astonishment stemmed not only from the sudden shift but also from her unexpected participation in the pageant to begin with. “I was more of a tomboy before stepping onto the runway, but people associated me with the runway before the cockpit,” she told me, adding: “Miss Rwanda served as a pathway, I believe, to where I am today. Don’t get me wrong; it was a valuable experience. It taught me a lot.”
After the Miss Rwanda competition, she couldn’t afford to buy a car so she settled for a motorbike instead. Because very few women rode bikes at the time in 2019, she became a media goldmine; her every move reported ad-nauseum.
“People would pass by me, snapping pictures, and I was like, ‘wow, okay.’ They appreciated seeing a girl on a bike,” she narrated. “Then, people from the Rwanda Motorsport Federation reached out and asked, ‘Can you rally?’ I replied, ‘I don’t know what that is. But I can try.’”
The concept read to her like a dream: the exhilaration of racing a car at top speed against breathtaking scenery. She was sold. But she knew she was just a rookie and was fully aware that she would face big obstacles. “Fear was the least of my worries, though,” she remarked, crediting her adventurous spirit to her upbringing. Kalimpinya brought decades of experience in what she calls “boyish sports” to the table: cars, bikes, and bicycles—she loved them all. This passion started during her childhood, where she spent glued to her older brother’s side, long before the world took notice of her. “In my head, I was like, anything that my brother can do, I can do it too. So he was fighting, I was fighting,” she said. “I had this mindset of, ‘whatever you can do, I can do it better.’”
At her first competition, the Women’s Sprint Rally (organized by women), she raced against eight other drivers. Unfortunately, her debut didn’t go as planned. She came in last. “Our car broke down less than 10 minutes into the race. We had to join the rest of the crowd,” Kalimpinya let out a loud laugh. “I had boldly declared to everyone that I was going to be a racer. It was quite embarrassing.”
Still, she was hooked. Over the next five years, she raced through miles of meandering roads across the country. Last year, she took part in The Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, a round of the African Rally Championship and the Rwandan National Rally Championship, where she secured the first team position.
Now, let’s cover the basics. In rallying, the format differs from other motorsports as competitors don’t race directly against each other overlaps of a circuit. Instead, it follows a point-to-point format where participants depart at regular intervals from one or more start points. Some entrants own their cars, while others borrow from friends or drive vehicles provided by sponsors.
Here in Rwanda, contestants race under the banner of a brand, according to Kalimpinya. For instance, she has been sponsored by a betting company and a petrol station; they sponsor her while she advertises for them. Courses often feature checkpoints or waypoints where drivers and navigators accumulate points as they navigate their way to the finish line. Last year’s Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, for example, spanned over 348.18 kilometers (687 miles) and extended up to 490.38 kilometers.
The history of women in motorsport has been relatively brief and uneventful. From the outset, it has predominantly been considered a man’s domain, with few women occupying important roles or taking the wheel. Even today, in Rwanda, only six women are navigators. Kalimpinya leads the charge, demonstrating that women can not only drive cars but also compete in races. The message is clear: you don’t have to be a man to excel in motorsport.
Since her start in 2019, Kalimpinya has participated in the rally three times alongside Fabrice Yoto, who served as both the pilot and her navigator. The duo competed with a Subaru Impreza GC8.
“One of Queen’s unique qualities is her genuine passion for it. Rallying demands big financial investment and many sleepless nights. For example, when preparing for the Mountain Gorilla, you can go a whole month without proper sleep,” explained Yoto, who has been racing since 2011. “There was a time she called me at 3 in the morning. She showed up at my doorstep at that hour because she was tirelessly working on her car and needed a part”
But, more interesting, are the rigorous pre-race routines that Kalimpinya follows. “A week before, I focus on getting enough sleep and staying hydrated. I avoid eating in any restaurant to prevent getting sick. I’m extremely competitive, and I don’t want anything to affect me or make me feel unwell on race day. I take strict measures – no driving, no racing, no social activities. I completely isolate myself,” she said. Physical fitness is a given, but her mental focus is what has propelled them to the top echelons of the sport in Rwanda. “And of course, I pray before the race and seek blessings from God and my parents,” she concluded.
Kalimpinya has also proven how marketable a woman in the cockpit can be. “At the time I was seeking sponsors for her, it was very easy,” Yoto added. “When they heard Queen was driving, responses were positive—’Oh, Queen again? Okay. Take so and so amount.’ For the last event, we had a good budget because everyone was eager to see how she would perform, and they were very impressed.”
While her racing results and time in the cockpit may contribute to her reputation, Kalimpinya’s presence in the sport has gone beyond, raising global awareness of motorsport in Rwanda. Lewis Hamilton reposted her photo from a Females in Motorsport’s X (Twitter) account. She has also earned herself a place in international news headlines from the likes of BBC and Al Jazeera.
“Whenever I sit in the car and start driving, it’s paradise for me,” she told Al Jazeera back in 2023. “It’s the thing that makes sense more than anything else.”
Being heralded as Rwanda’s first female racecar driver wasn’t always met with positivity, though. “Some people discourage you. They say, ‘Ah, once you get married, you will not do it again. Wait until you have children; it will stop after a year,’” she said, smiling. These concerns are two things she isn’t bothered by, at least not right now.
Kalimpinya and Yoto attribute her success to her enthusiasm, willingness to learn, and the support of those around her—particularly her team.
“Even though I’m in a male-dominated sport and my team is made up of men, they don’t treat me any differently,” she said. One of her toughest challenges is the lack of changing rooms that accommodate women. Funding issues present hurdles, as well, such as covering the costs of maintaining cars and competing in new terrains outside of Rwanda. Events like the African Rallying Championship often strain her team’s financial resources beyond capacity.
But the allure of rallying transcends monetary considerations for Kalimpinya. She views herself simply as a woman driven by a passion for cars and racing.
In a motorsport arena heavily dominated by men, Kalimpinya aims to challenge the status quo. Her goal is to pave the way for girls and women in motorsport, illustrating that they too can excel in this field.
On the day of her interview with SENS, Kalimpinya personally drove us to the location of her shoot. Confidently bearing herself and dressed in her signature rally gear from head to toe, she presented a riveting figure behind the wheel. At times, Kalimpinya slowed down, but there were moments when it seemed like her hands were twitching to race as she gripped the wheel.
“When you’re behind the wheel, you feel the car, and suddenly, you’re in your own world. It’s indescribable — almost divine. I can’t quite find the right words, but it’s just awesome,” she confided with a chuckle.
A female VubaVuba delivery agent sped by us on a motorbike.
“Look at that fantastic woman,” she exclaimed with her signature mischievous smile. “That is what I love to see.”
