Last week Ms Seddigh, a 28-year-old PhD student in production management, became the first woman champion in an otherwise all-male field in a national speed race championship at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. [Read a related article - in Farsi]

That success came after she finished first in a national rally competition. "I learned to drive when I was 13," Ms Seddigh said. "I loved speed and driving fast. For a while I was driving without a licence. I was a teenage rebel."