The Malaysian motorsport community has lost a veteran figure – Jagdev Singh – who passed away today. Jagdev was well known as co-driver to Karamjit Singh, whom he met at the first Castrol Daylight Rally in 1985.
They were not partners yet as Jagdev was assisting as service crew in another team, but the duo would eventually become famous not only in Malaysia but also other countries where they entered international rallies together during the years when the PERT team was active.
Karamjit and Jagdev became more prominent in the rallying scene after I had stopped in the mid-1980s so we never really mixed much. However, in the years that followed, I would be writing about them regularly as they won numerous rallies and flew the Malaysian flag abroad.
The last time I met Jagdev was at an event in January where they were crowned champions of the 2022 VANTAGE Malaysian National Rally Championship (MNRC). Although I had not seen him and Karamjit for a long time, they greeted me warmly and we shared ‘war stories’ from the old days.
When I said that I didn’t have recent pictures of them in action, Jagdev immediately got some and sent them to me within a few hours. That was the kind of guy he was – helpful and always remembering old friends.
It’s sad that he has passed away just when he was looking forward to a new career venture with CISCO Racing as its CEO. “We will design and build an exciting new rallycar, roll out specialised automotive accessories, performance parts and do other exciting stuff,” he said.
My condolences to his family and loved ones. He will be missed by all in the motorsport community.
Rest in peace, Jagdev.