Name:

Robert Reid

Age:

37

Marital status:

Single

Children

-

Occupation:

Co-driver

Place of birth:

Perth, Scotland

Country where you live:

Perth, Scotland

Any other hobbies:

Mountain bikes, music, classic cars, gadgets and watches

Your opinions

Favourite food:

Indian or Mexican

Favourite drink:

Water and Red wine

Favourite motorsport paper/magazine:

Motorsport/Rally XS

Favourite sports person (other than rallying):

Tiger Woods

Favourite film star:

Ashley Judd (she’s married to my friend Dario Franchitti!)

Favourite holiday destination:

Mallorca

Which TV sports programmes do you watch?

All

Starting out

How did you start out?

Local car club – 55 Car Club in Perth, doing navigation and road rallies. Tried driving on a few stage events! But quickly returned to what I could do!

First driver you sat with:

Alan Oudney on Hackle Rally

First event:

1^st stage event – Hackle Rally (Scottish Championship) 198? (probably 84/85)

Rallying background

Type of licence held:

International Rally Driver

Have you ever driven on a rally?

Yes, a few in ’86 with an Escort 1.6

Did you ever marshal on events? When and where?

Yes, a long time ago

How many rallies do you take part in (e.g. per year)

14

Have you competed abroad? Where and when

Every WRC event for the past 6 years and all the Asian Pacific events as well, ’94-’96. It will be my 100^th WRC event in Australia this year!!

Your opinions on rallying

Favourite rally car:

WRC 2000 Impreza

Favourite rally driver:

Obviously Richard Burns, also Markku Alen

Favourite rally co-driver:

Fred Gallagher

Favourite bit of road or forest:

Ouninpohja in Finland – you get to the end and you have the feeling that you’ve hated and enjoyed every moment.

Do you prefer pace notes or map reading events?

Nowadays notes, but maps were a great challenge

Things you dislike about rallying?

Sometimes it gets very political and people lose sight of the sporting element

Who do you think will win the WRC in 2003?

Richard Burns / Robert Reid

Rallying history

Drivers you have sat with:

Robbie Head, Callum Guy, Andy Knight, Steve Egglestone, Stephen Price, Richard Burns, Colin McRae, Alister McRae and Richard Burns exclusively since the beginning of ’91.

Best result:

Winning Portugal in 2000 the first time out with the new Subaru WRC 2000. Came back from several problems to beat Marcus by a few seconds.

Worst result:

Indonesia ’96 – 1^st stage off

Championships contested:

’91 Peugeot Challenge – 1st

’92 National Championship – 1^st

’93 Open Championship – 1^st

’94 – ’96 Asian Pacific

’97 – now World Rally Championship – 1^st 2001

Best championship result:

World Champion 2001

Best Rally memory:

Winning the WRC on the RAC ‘01

Strangest incident on a rally:

Running over a snake in Indonesia. You couldn’t see its head or tail and it felt like a speed bump!!

Biggest accident:

Still 1996 Catalunya although a few others have come close!

Your current performance

How could you improve your current driver’s performance?

You can always help most by doing the best job that YOU can!

If you had £50,000 to spend on rallying, what would you do?

Help to raise the profile of a young co-driver and try to pass on all the knowledge in my head.

Your future in rallying

Where would you most like to compete (in the world):

It would be good to see the WRC going to North America/Canada and Japan

Ambition in rallying for the future:

World Rally Championship again ….

What would you like to put back into rallying?

It would be nice to get the time to go to a few BRC rallies and meet the next generation of drivers / co-drivers.

The future of rallying

Which up-and-coming rally driver can you recommend?

David Higgins is doing well. Also good to see two young Brits getting a chance in JWRC

Which up-and-coming rally co-driver can you recommend?

Michael Orr is making good progress. Also try to help out a couple of young co-drivers: Roger Herron and Glen Patterson

What would be the best tip you could give to other co-drivers?

Try to speak to as many experienced people as you can and listen to their advice. Then make your own judgement.

Any other comments?

Visit www.robertreid.co.uk for more information and all the latest happenings

 updated 30/4/03