•With an insatiable appetite for success, the Team Tarmal Steel rising star is confident his Subaru would enable him to maintain his run of good results away from home.
•With two successive Coast Rally Championship titles under his belt, Abdulkadir believes his trusted Japanese marque will carry him to future success
Image: HANDOUT
Aspiring to compete in the toughest series of the season, rising star Abdulkadir Tarmal hopes to demonstrate the progress made in club-man rallies and indeed build on a strong start for 2024.
But despite raking up back-to-back Coast Rally Championship titles, Abdulkadir believes he still has a lot to do to improve from club-based championships to the apex of national rallying.
Abdulkadir says he has put a lot of work into his long-awaited full season of the Kenya National Rally Championship next year and hopes it will be enough to give him a competitive package and a new experience.
“But we will only know for sure once the 2024 season gets underway,” he quipped.
He trusts his Japanese marque, a Subaru, to carry him to future success and put him firmly in contention for the Kenya National Rally Championships title at some point in his rallying career.
“I have high hopes in our Subaru. It will offer us the much-needed reliability after winning my second Coast Rally Championship at Vipingo’s Mombasa Cement,” Abdulkadir said of his intended KNRC foray in 2024.
“I am also optimistic it will help us to continue our momentum in the national series. The handling of the car is incredible while the additional grip and driveability gives us immense confidence to attack.”
Abdulkadir had a fruitful 2023 season at the Coast in his second year of competition and was delighted to win the title for the second year running as well as a maiden podium position (third) on his KNRC debut at the MMC Bamba Rally.
The podium finish at Bamba Rally inspired him to go for bigger limits in this gruelling “Man Against Machine” sport.
On his KNRC debut in 2022, Abdulkadir secured a career-best national podium position behind winner Raaji Bharij and Jasmeet Chana.
Abdulkadir also won the 4WD Turbo Class during the MMC National Autocross Championship in 2022 and finished second in the same class and event this year.
Image: HANDOUT
“It’s only my second season with the car and I must admit it is enjoyable to drive and I think it will be even more exciting for home spectators too,” he emphasised.
He won the last leg of the MMC Round 6 Clubman event in Vipingo, where he was the only finisher.
“I must commend our club chairman, Roy McKenzie, and his dedicated group of MMC volunteers who work effortlessly to organise club rallies. I would never have realised my potential in this competitive sport were it not for the Clubman events,” Abdulkadir continued.
So how did it all start for Abdulkadir?
There is an adage in motorsports that says; ‘Whenever kids get a whiff of a race seat, it’s deeply ingrained in them forever!’
Rightly so. Abdulkadir is one such petrolhead who has always wanted to race no matter what.
At the tender age of 10, he had already drawn his inspiration from watching circuit and motor rallying events while also succumbing to the lure of the same e-sports. So it’s little wonder that the 29-year-old businessman already had the bug long before he drove for fun at Mombasa Go-Kart.
His first 24 hours of racing fame came when he convincingly won the fourth round of the 2022 Mombasa Motor Club Coast Rally 4 at Vipingo.
“It was an amazing experience winning this Club Rally but then it was quite a challenge considering this was my first-night rally. However, I think my co-driver Azgar Kassam was on the ball and deserves a pat on the back for a mission well executed,” said Abdulkadir.
Image: HANDOUT
His Subaru Impreza STI N10 is now synonymous with coast rally lovers especially due to his flat-out cockpit antics.
“My clean lines at Vipingo have elevated my confidence levels and goes to show I’m progressing in the sport. This motivates me to continue learning and pushing even harder when circumstances permit. It’s always wrong to be retrogressive in anything you can make better,” Abdulkadir expounded.
But asked what his long and short-term plans in racing are, Abdulkadir said: “I want to focus more on 2024 KNRC since to gain exposure. It’s great to see that results are coming but there is so much we can improve on. We could be a lot stronger and, therefore, we still some work to do. Meanwhile, we are open to for sponsorship packages.”
“Long term, we desire to post good stage times as well as win championships across the KNRC ranks. Despite competing in two Club Man series at the coast as well as a few coast-based national events, we believe KNRC presents a different kind of challenge. We must up our game and be at our best to have a chance of excelling next year,” he said.
Abdulkadir, a first-generation driver, continues to learn the ropes meticulously from his seniors and he is proud of his club’s initiative in the coast.
All in all, he credits his navigator Kassam for providing leadership, guidance, and support on and off the cockpit.
Image: HANDOUT
“Having a navigator you can rely on is key to performing well in a rally environment. Without good notes from the adjacent side of the driving seat, it becomes really difficult to push the car to its limits as you lack the requisite confidence and by extension, the capability to ascertain what obstacles lie ahead,” Abdulkadir continued.
When most people think of a rally co-driver, they immediately think of the person sitting shotgun, shouting out all sorts of letters and numbers, potentially including obscenities, while the driver goes flat-out down a mountain road.
“From my experience in the driver’s seat over the past two years, I have come to realise that navigators are the unsung heroes in the sport. There is so much work that comes from the second name on the entry list, especially, for small to medium-sized teams,” Abdulkadir explained.
Abdulkadir Tarmal Lowdown
Date Of Birth: 15/04/1994
Hometown: Mombasa
Club: Mombasa Motor Club
Profession: Businessman. (Family Steel Manufacturing Company)
Sponsor: Tarmal Steel
Navigator: Azgar Kassam
Car: Subaru Impreza STi N10
Year Commenced Rallying: 2022
Schools/Colleges: University of Nottingham UK — Undergraduate
Aston University UK — Masters
Hobbies: Travelling, Watching TV, Rallying
Career highlights
1. Winner — Mombasa Motor Club Training Rally 4 in August 2022
2. Open Class winner — Kenya National MMC Autocross 5 in May 2022
3. Third Overall -KNRC Mombasa Rally in Bamba 2022
4. Winner — Coast Rally Championships-2022 and 2023
5. Retired — 2023 KNRC Mombasa Cement Rally
6. Second place — 2023 Mombasa Motor Club - Club Rally 4