From runway to racetrack: Kalimpinya on chasing her rally racing dream

The last time we saw Queen Kalimpinya was on the runway competing for the Miss Rwanda crown. This was in 2017 when she emerged the third runner up. Optimistic and ambitious, the beauty queen has since stretched her paths, tapping into motorsport and making a big debut on the race track. For the longest time, the 23-year-old admits to having been an ‘adrenaline junkie’ and when an opportunity arose for rally racing, she gladly took it on. Two years after her win at Miss Rwanda, a member of Rwanda Automobile Club approached her and requested her to join the womens rally team. “No one is limited to do one thing,” Kalimpinya said during an interview with The New Times. Queen Kalimpinya , the co-driver poses for a picture before the race. Courtesy She learnt how to ride a motorbike at an early age and loves anything to do with automobiles. Now operating as the co-driver of a rally car, she navigates for the race where she does reading off a set of pace notes to the driver; informing them of what lies ahead, where to turn and the obstacles to look out for. Growing up Kalimpinya was born in Gasabo, Kigali into a family of five siblings. Her family later moved to Gitega, Kigali where she says to have had a pretty interesting childhood. She was always in constant competition with her elder brother who is two years older than her. The two were always together competing in different games, and Kalimpinya loved following her brother everywhere. Most times, she would find herself ‘chilling’ with boys, thus developing a tomboyish behaviour. And that’s how she learned how to ride a bicycle at a very young age. Kalimpinya explains that she got into competitive rally racing through encouragement from the Rwanda Automobile Club who she says have always supported her through this journey. She goes on to further appreciate them for being with her through her journey and their initiative in empowering women on scaling them to achieve their capabilities through rally racing. “It is still early to say that rally racing is a profession for me. I am still learning and enjoying this endeavour, I’ll see what it will come to,” says Kalimpinya. A male-dominated field Over the years motorsports has been a male-dominated sport, but Kalimpinya says she appreciates the club’s initiative for working hard to change this by empowering women to actively participate in automobile sports. The club encourages women and trains them to join competitive racing. She also lauds her male colleagues for being supportive of her dreams and those of other female racers. “I hold in high regard my male colleagues and competitors since they encourage me and other women. They also go the extra mile to train us in order to improve our skills.” Kalimpinya holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and this she says has come in handy for her rally racing endeavour. Rally racing involves a lot of logistics which is required by co-drivers before beginning a race. Hence, she has merged her knowledge with her applied skills and in turn, uses them when she is out in the race track. She urges young girls who are passionate about motorsports to go forward and participate in it encouraging them that it is not as scary as it looks but rather a very fulfilling endeavour.

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From runway to racetrack: Kalimpinya on chasing her rally racing dream