Zaituni Dileita

Zaituni Dileita (née Kenadid, born 14 May 1986 in Burdhubo, Somalia), is a Somalian racing driver who currently competes in AutoReject GTi, driving for Globex Scorpio Juniors.

Early Life

Zaituni Dileita was born as the fourth daugther of local farmers Aden and Iman Kenadid. Her childhood was defined by loss, diseases taking almost all of her family members. In 2013, she married Faisal Dileita. Her husband was colateral damage during the attack of Somali Armed Forces to retake Burdhubo from Al-Shabaab. Without a family to turn to, she and her newborn son, Aden Dileita, became refugees. After living in a refugee camp for two years, she was offered to come to Germany and work for Best In The World, after a childhood friend of Kay Lon, who worked as a volunteer in the refugee camp, became enamoured of her and asked Lon to help her. Thinking of her young son, she accepted the offer.

Racing Career

After appearing in a few kart races to get accomodated with racing, Dileita was placed in a AutoReject GTi car, making her debut in a BITW-labeled Scorpio car at the 2016 Lupo GTI Spa Superprix. After an eight place in that race and Koyomi Setou moving on to join Pulsar Racing for the 2017 AutoReject Super Touring season, Globex Scorpio Juniors offered her a full-time drive. She struggled to meet the pace of her competition. A business agreement between Kay Lon and Phoenix McAllister got her a 'test race' in the Formula 2 Rejects World Race Series, ending in a retirement. An upturn of performance saw her finishing 15th in the championship with a best finish of 5th at the EuroSpeedway. She was offered a one-year contract extension by the team, being joined by fellow member of the Best In The World Support Group Khungirat Molotov Khünbish.

Her second and final year in the championship proved more fruitful as she learned to handle her car more confidently, resulting in five top ten finishes and a sixth place in the championship. During the winter time, Dileita signed a contract with small outfit Ecurie Méditerranéenne for the Africa Racing League. Whilst her lack of open-wheel experience and skill generally had her placed in the lower end of the standings, she was able to produce a great drive at the Phakisa Freeway, using the circumstances and good driving to finish an impressive second place.