The co-driver ends his career as one of the most decorated rally racers in the region.
Seven-time Middle East Rally Champion co-driver Nasser Saadon Al-Kuwari has announced his retirement from rally racing, ending an illustrious 25-year-long career.
The Qatari co-driver said the decision had been “the most difficult” of his life so far, after trying to “represent Qatar in the best possible way”.
“I have decided to retire from my motorsports career after spending the past 25 years in rally cars,” he wrote on Instagram late on Monday.
Al-Kuwari’s focus will now be on spending time with his family and kids after spending two decades and a half on the run, he added in the announcement post.
Al-Kuwari leaves the sport as one of the most successful co-drivers ever to come out of the Middle East and North Africa, having clinched 10 Qatar Rally Championships and six Kuwait Rally in addition to various regional and international titles.
He also helped his brother, Abdulaziz, to a maiden Middle East Rally Championship last season after having driven with 31 different drivers in his illustrious career.
“My target was to stop last year [2024], but it is not easy to stop rally racing,” Al-Kuwari had told Doha News in an interview in February, adding he intended to complete the current season co-driving for his cousin, Ahmed Al-Kuwari.
That plan was cut short by the announcement on Monday, which came as a surprise to many rally racing enthusiasts since Al-Kuwari is still considered to be one of the best co-drivers around.
“I always have to win races,” he told in the February interview. “It is not like ‘I’ll participate for the sake of participation’ — I want to be able to participate to win.”
He most recently finished fourth in the challenger category at both the Dakar Rally and the Middle East Baja Cup.
Only co-driver of the racing dynasty
For as long as Al-Kuwari can remember, conversations about rally cars and circuits dominated the family besides a few dabbles about football.
In fact, the Al-Kuwaris can be considered a racing dynasty on their own, having produced several rally drivers who have gone on to represent Qatar. It was only axiomatic that he and his brother, Abdulaziz, joined the bandwagon.
“My grandfather was the first Qatar rally driver in 1975, my dad started in 1983 and my five uncles were rally drivers too,” Al-Kuwari told Doha News before retirement. The generation after him is showing up in racing too, he added.
Nasser Al-Kuwari, however, stands as an exception as the only co-driver out of the patrimonial rally racers.
It started when he was asked to shift seats by his brother, who suddenly took out a bank loan to buy a rally car. Both had started driving off-road following their father’s footsteps and Nasser was completely alien to co-driving and almost hated it in the beginning. “Everyone wants to drive, and drive fast when they are young,” he said.
That moment, however, made sense almost three decades later.
Having amassed the experience of co-driving for many, Al-Kuwari teamed up with his brother, Abdulaziz, last season after twelve years of calling, which saw the latter become the Middle East Rally Champion for the first time.
“It was the most important moment of my life,” Nasser said of his brother’s victory, adding it felt like his career had culminated in that moment.
“We used to watch the MERC since we were kids and our dream was just to join the rally in the beginning.
“When we joined, the dream was to win it together. And we finally did it last year. The whole family celebrated.”
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