Tribute To The Humans Who Shout Inside Rally Cars
By Mwambazi Lawrence
Have you ever taken a moment just one little moment to think about who the real heroes are inside a rally car? No, it’s not the driver who gets to do all the fancy drifts, slides, and media interviews. The real heroes are the navigators the only people crazy enough to willingly sit beside a speed-obsessed maniac with a foot made of concrete, armed with nothing but a notebook, a stopwatch, and the unwavering belief that their driver actually listens to them (spoiler alert: they often don’t).
Female Codriver Mildred Kibuuka doing what codrivers do best in one of the rallies
These codrivers—bless their traumatized souls , spend their weekends shouting exotic phrases like “Flat crest 150 into deceptive right four tightens don’t cut unless you hate your suspension!” They sound like auctioneers at a cattle market, except instead of cows, they’re auctioning off the crew’s survival. If you’ve ever heard this live, you’d think it was either a sophisticated new language or the symptoms of a serious concussion. But no, dear reader, these are pace notes, the magical map that guides the car through the stage, ensuring that the only thing the car hits is the finish line, and not a tree.
Honestly, Who was the first genius to say, “Hey, let’s take one guy who loves driving too fast and sit him next to another guy who loves reading aloud under extreme pressure!” This is a job invented by someone who probably got kicked out of both the military and a circus, then combined both skill sets into one chaotic career path.. Because being a codriver is basically agreeing to do math homework, write essays, keep time like a Rolex watch, and perform interpretive shouting while flying sideways at 150km/h through sugarcane plantations.
Female navigator Tuta Miyonki back in the day as a codriver .
A codriver’s life isn’t just about screaming pace notes. They are the office manager of the crew. They calculate stage times, manage time cards, ensure the car shows up at time controls before the clock hits zero, and act like the team’s walking Google Calendar. If the crew arrives late Even if the driver stopped for roadside rolex, it’s still somehow the codriver’s fault for not predicting the hunger, and If the car arrives too early still it’s the codriver. If the car ends up in a ditch because someone mistook a left three for a left six? You guessed it the codriver.
Rally is all about time, and in this high-stakes game of stopwatch warfare, every second counts. Every rally mishap automatically has one culprit: the codriver.Car flipped into a swamp? Codriver gave the wrong pace note. Gearbox fell out the bottom? Codriver didn’t say “upshift politely.” Driver missed a turn because they were singing along to Lil Pazo’s “Enkudi” Codriver should have written “stop karaoke” in the notes.
One wrong pace note from the codriver and its game over .
But when things go well,” Ah, yes! It’s the driver’s glory”, when the car flies across the finish line faster than gossip at a village meeting the headlines only mention one name: the driver. TV, radio, social media all celebrating the hero behind the wheel, the master of speed, the champion of champions while the codriver is left holding a dirty clipboard wondering if they’ll at least get a free soda. Unless, of course, the codriver made a mistake then their name becomes a trending topic faster than you can say “jump maybe.”
Moil Rally Team’s co-driver Ali Katumba (2nd from R) after a good day in office
Here’s a test for all you rally superfans. Adrien Fourmaux—yes, that flashy Hyundai driver is heading to this year’s WRC Safari Rally. But quick, no googling who’s his codriver? See? Silence. Tumbleweed. Even his own family might forget sometimes. By the time the rally ends, everyone will be screaming “FOURMAUX! FOURMAUX! FOURMAUX!” while his poor codriver sits alone in the service park, Googling “how to be famous when you’re invisible.”
Closer to home, every Ugandan rally fan can confidently tell you that Jas Mangat is the reigning national champion. But if you ask who the 2WD codriver champion is, you’ll get the same face people make when you ask them to explain taxes. If you do, congratulations you are officially a rally superfan with extra sauce. If you don’t, welcome to the 98% of fans who only remember the drivers, the car colors, and maybe the sponsor stickers.
Rally codriver Joseph Kamya posing for a photo
In truth, a codriver is a rare breed a cross between a fearless adventurer, a mathematician, a fortune teller, and a kindergarten teacher (because sometimes they have to repeat instructions like the driver is a stubborn toddler). They go ahead of the car with their notes, warning about every corner, bump, jump, and cow crossing the road. They sit in the front passenger seat, calmly predicting doom, while the driver just hears: “Go faster, you coward.”
To truly understand their struggle, here are some legendary quotes from codrivers who lived to tell the tale:
“I said left! LEFT! Your other left!”
“Why are you braking? I didn’t say brake! Oh, now you listen!”
“Please, I have a family.”
“If you cut this corner, I swear I’ll scream.”
“We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“Why is there a cow inside the stage? Is this part of the notes?”
And sometimes they improvise when the car goes so fast
- “Flat crest into -WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?”
- “Straight into -you’re going to regret this…”
- “Sharp left and…we’re airborne now, aren’t we?”
Tanzanian Co-driver David Matete during an event.
So next time you cheer for that flying rally car, do me one favor spare a thought for the poor codriver strapped in next to the drift king. While the driver gets all the glory, it’s the codriver who holds the whole circus together with duct tape, frantic handwriting, and prayers whispered into a sweaty helmet.. The one reading notes, calculating times, arguing with clocks, blamed for everything, and getting credit for absolutely nothing.
To all the unsung heroes of rallying the codrivers this one’s for you. May your notes be clear, your driver actually listen, and your seatbelts forever tight.
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