Abdul Sidi: Navigator who called pace notes for legendary drivers takes final bow

By  Ayumba Ayodi

Correspondent

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

• Abdul passed away on Thursday evening at his residence in Athi River, Machakos County after long battle with diabetes.
• Abdul’s younger brother, Anwar Sidi, said that the celebrated navigator has been in and out of hospital for months.

The local motorsports fraternity has been thrown into mourning following the death of veteran rally navigator and motorsports writer Abdul Sidi.

Abdul passed away on Thursday evening at his residence in Athi River, Machakos County after long battle with diabetes. He was 75. Abdul, who has been synonymous with motor sports in Kenya since the 80s, is survived by his daughter Farzana.

In the cockpit, Sidi was easily one of Kenya’s finest navigators. He braved the gruelling Safari Rally 18 times, successfully crossing the finish line 15 times, a monumental feat of endurance and skill.

He guided legendary drivers like Patrick Njiru, Phineas Kimathi, Sammy Aslam, and Azar Anwar, stamping his own story into the history of the Safari Rally’s golden era. He was elder brother of motor sport figures Asgar Sidi, Anwar Sidi and the late Akbar Sidi.

His remains were interred on Friday at Lang’ata Cemetery in Nairobi. Earlier, family members, and friends gathered at Masjid Nur in South C for prayer. The interment was attended by family members and friends drawn from the local motorsports fraternity, among them Patrick Njiru.

FIA Vice President for Sport (Africa) Rodrigo Rocha, Kenya Motor Sports Federation (KMSF) president Maina Muturi, and Motorsports Kenya Federation president Altaf Ganatra condoled with the family. 

Abdul’s younger brother, Anwar, said that the celebrated co-driver has been in and out of hospital for months. He died of renal failure and diabetes.

“He passed on after a life fully dedicated to the sport he loved. As a veteran navigator, he has seen motorsport technology change over time from analogue, digital, to the present. He mentored many people in the sport,” Anwar, who is a renowned motor sport photojournalist, said on Friday. 

For more than three decades, Abdul has been an authority in rallying, and covered major motor sports events for the Daily Nation.

“In that time, he mentored many journalists who went on to become household names in the sport. His newsroom was a classroom, his notebook a motor sports manual, and his passion infectious,” Anwar said.

He described his elder brother as a rare all-rounder who also played basketball and football. Beyond journalism, Abdul was a fearless navigator who called pace notes for legendary drivers, among them Njiru, Belgian Grégoire De Mevious, and Sammy Aslam.

“He understood the sport from both sides  - as a competitor and as a storyteller,” Anwar observed.

Abdul famously navigated Njiru in  the 1980s, most notably when they powered their Subaru Impreza car to Group N victory, and to fourth place overall in the gruelling 1994 World Rally Championship Safari Rally.

He also navigated Azar Anwar to second place overall in the 1988 Kenya National Rally Championship series. He navigated Sammy Aslam in the 1997 WRC Safari Rally in Daewoo Cielo car, and at the 2005 Safari Rally. They again teamed up for  the 2006 and 2007 editions of the race, then parted ways.

On Friday, Njiru said he met Abdul for the first time in 1980 at the Kenya Motor Sports Club in South C, and their friendship grew. Abdul  became his co-driver from 1988.

“We had good times with the cars. It has just hit me that everything must come to an end after laying him to rest,” said Njiru, adding that his best moments with Abdul was when they finished the 1994 safari Rally firth overall.

“That is when the rally was 5,000km and Abdul unleashed the best in him. He is one of the best co-drivers the country has had,” said Njiru, revealing that Sidi blended well with everyone. 

“I visited him at the hospital and all seemed well.”

Abdul also navigated for Phineas Kimathi, securing historic WRC points for Hyundai in 18th overall position at the 1998 WRC Safari Rally, and winning the Formula 2 at the 1999 WRC Safari Rally. 

“He was a motor sportsman par excellence, courageous, patient, knowledgeable and deeply committed to the development of the sport in the country,” Kimathi said on Friday, adding that his skills, composure and dedication made him an exceptional navigator.

Abdul formed the Abdul Sidi Rally Academy (ASRA) in 2010, through which he groomed countless other petrol heads to take up the sport.

Among his products are 2013 National  2WD champion Dennis Mwenda, WRC Safari Rally senior official Hellen Shiri, and many other drivers who took up motorsport around 2012.

Abdul rose to become Event Director of the iconic WRC Safari Rally and served with distinction as the National Press Officer,  championing professionalism and opening doors for young journalists.

Rocha said Abdul was a distinguished figure in African motorsport, having dedicated more than four decades of his life to motorsport, and making an exceptional contribution both as a rally navigator and as a journalist, mentor and ambassador of the sport.

Rocha said through his journalism, mentorship and the Abdul Sidi Rally Academy, Abdul helped open the doors of motorsport to young drivers and navigators and played an important role in strengthening the grassroots foundations of the sport in Kenya.

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