By Laila Humairah & Sharifah Fadhilah Alshahab
Published on
For the second year, the 2026 Shell Eco-marathon kicked off in Qatar, with 78 teams competing in prototype and urban concept categories.
It features futuristic capsules built purely for efficiency as well as vehicles designed for practical road use. Both categories have the same goal – to travel the furthest distance on a single sip of fuel or kilowatt-hour of electricity.
The stakes are particularly high this year as winning teams qualify for the inaugural Global Championships in 2027. Also hosted in Qatar, regional winners will return to the Lusail International Circuit to compete on the world stage.
According to Executive Vice President and Country Chair Qatar, Rob Maxwell, the programme aims to promote science, engineering, design, leadership and IT skills.
“It’s just an absolute privilege to see the energy here, the curiosity, the creativity, the ingenuity of the students. It’s fantastic to see,” Maxwell said, hoping that the impact of the race extends beyond the circuit and would serve as a springboard for careers in technology and innovation.
Racing on home turf is Qatar’s all-girls team, Al-Adham. For team driver Munira Khaled Al-Matawaa, their participation carries personal significance.
“As a Qatari girl, I’m so proud of my team because we are the only Qatari girls’ team competing among university students,” she said.
Echoing Munira’s pride is Nayaka Nugraha of Indonesia’s Team Weimana.
“Coming from a small island in Bali with big ambitions, we’re really proud of ourselves,” he said, calling the experience invaluable.
“This is way different from learning in the classroom. because we actually get to do things by hand. We learn things in real time because we weld, we grind things. So it’s really beneficial for us,” the non-technical team member explained.
Competing in both the prototype and urban concept categories, Team Weimana’s cars are made of carbon fibre and took approximately a year to mould. And before they hit the tracks, like every team, the vehicles undergo strict safety and technical inspection.
“We have lots of technical regulations so that we can ensure that we have a fair and accurate measurement of their consumption, and our inspection makes sure that the driver will stay safe,” said Melle de Wit, the Global Technical Director of Shell Eco-marathon.
The competition heads to the United States for the next round before returning to Qatar next year for the Global Championship.