What it Takes to be a Rally Co-Driver with Harry Walshaw - My Motorsport Job

To the untrained, the role of a Rally co-driver seems to be just sitting in the passenger seat of a fast car telling the driver where to go. A human sat nav. But there’s so much more to it than that, and it’s a shame that co-drivers often don’t get the recognition they deserve, because the legends of the sport might not exist without them. There might be no Colin McRae without Nicky Grist. No Sébastian Loeb without Daniel Elena. No Michelle Mouton without Fabrizia Pons.

Sure there’s an argument to be made that the greatest drivers would have been the greatest drivers regardless, however the importance of the co-driver undoubtedly far exceeds what most normal people - and even fans of other motorsports - understand.

The unique nature of a co-driver is that it is probably one of the only competition roles within motorsport that is truly equal between both men and women.

To help shed light on the role that a co-driver plays, we spoke to co-driver and 2024 Motorsport UK Academy graduate Harry Walshaw.

Despite being just 21 years old, Harry’s already had an illustrious career in rally. Having run his first rally in 2019 in a Nissan Micra, he’s since gone through club, national, and even international events - competing in cars from Minis to Escorts and Rally2 machinery, adding 98 starts to his career and two overall event wins.

“My grandfather [did Rally], and then my dad did it as well,” Harry told us. “I just grew up going to events, being around the service area, marshalling. I was hooked from the get-go.”

Having initially wanted to be a driver, Harry turned to co-driving after seeing the budgets required, and quickly found a niche.

And here is perhaps one of the first things to know about co-drivers - that, contrary to what you might have believed, they aren’t attached to a single driver.

This is because co-drivers act somewhat as a hired gun - drivers hiring them for as long as they need them - and co-drivers plying their trade across multiple events for multiple drivers.

In 2025 alone, Harry sat in the passenger seat of 13 different drivers for 21 different events. With so many drivers, teams, and cars to contend with, getting familiar with the person you’re sharing a vehicle with is crucial.

“I’ll spend a bit of time before the Rally trying to get to know each driver that I’ll be sat with,” Harry said. “If we’ve got a recce, that gives us a bit of time to get to know each other if we’ve not met before.”

The recce - short for reconnaissance - is a team’s chance to inspect the stages. It’s not a practice session as roads are still open to the public, but teams are given the directions and left to their own devices.

“A recce will be two passes of a stage, and we’re given a road book with each junction on, and a trip meter to calculate the distance to each junction that marries up in the road book so we know our way around a stage.

“The driver also has his own trip meter for the distances between corners (usually set to KM), and he or she will relay to me what they want.

“Each driver has a different style of notes, so we’ll go through them after the first pass and again after the second pass, and we’ll usually run a GoPro in the car so we can keep going through them back at the hotel.”

This means that there are just two chances for a driver and co-driver to travel the routes together before attacking a stage in anger, with the co-driver needing to write their pace notes from them.

This freelance nature also makes co-driving a more competitive market, with co-drivers needing to stand out. Branding and earning a name for yourself is vital, along with building connections in the sport.

Weight is obviously one way that co-drivers can differentiate themselves - every kilo a co-driver weighs is another kilo going into the car, so weighing less brings advantages - however one of a co-driver’s greatest tools is their voice.

“Being from Yorkshire I’m very flat-toned, whereas the Welsh are more assertive with their notes as they’ve got a more lyrical tone,” Harry explained. “My USP would be being lightweight, and trying to be as clear as possible. Okay, I might not be able to be more assertive with the tighter corners or the cautions, but utilising my accent to be clear and confident I can guarantee you’ll hear me [over the radio].”

This clear communication not only separates the good co-drivers from the bad, but is often crucial during the at-times perilous nature of Rally.

While all motorsport is inherently dangerous, nowhere is that more true than in Rally. Injury is sadly only around the corner, and in a sport with so much that could go wrong, building that trust is imperative.

With so few opportunities to do so though, how do the two build belief in each other? Sometimes it’s an on-the-job thing, says Harry.

“I’ve grown to be good friends with Alfie Hammond [who was second overall in the 2022 BTRDA 1400CC]. We’ve had a couple of moments where we got away with things, and I’ve certainly maintained calm myself and kept reading the notes so he can build his trust in me and save the moments, which ultimately builds my trust in him.”

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Not all trust-building needs to be done through near-death experiences though - any similarities can be a useful starting point. “Tarik [Minott], like me, only has one kidney, so we’ve got some common ground there,” Harry mentioned.

“Certain situations like that can help to build a bit of common ground with a driver can be great and ultimately builds a great foundation to work on.”

When it comes down to it, the role of a co-driver is really one of management - of managing the directions, of managing the driver, and of managing themselves. They enable the driver, and by extension the team, to perform to the best of their abilities. A good co-driver makes the difference in the car, and the driver’s successes are just as much the successes of the co-driver. So yes, while they do read the directions, there’s a whole lot more to it too.

You can find out more about Harry Walshaw on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/hjwrcd/