Image courtesy of
Geoff Mayes
Aberdeen resident Chris Reid underlined his potential as one of the U.K’s top rally drivers with a near perfect performance on this weekends Mewla National Rally where, by finishing second he successfully wrapped up the 2006 Quaife 205 Championship with 2 rounds to spare.
23 year old Chris, on only his first ever tarmac rally was the class of the field all day, revelling in the fast and technical nature of the roads around the Epynt Military Area in Mid Wales and, despite only needing to finish 5th to put the 2006 title beyond the grasp of any of his rivals, was immediately on the pace.
6 fastest times over the opening 6 stages gave the young farmer a comfortable lead of over 2 minutes from his nearest rivals and despite insisting he was not pushing hard, had found a comfortable pace that was leaving his rivals trailing.
At midday service the AB Motorsport crew discovered that the bottom end bearings in the engine were failing, resulting in a lack of outright horsepower! However with such a lead Chris could throttle back and maintain a comfortable gap over the remaining 6 stages.
Even so Chris was still quickest over the 12 miles of Stage 9, extending his advantage to over 3 minutes with only 3 stages left to go!
With such a commanding lead the champion elect happily conceded time over the next couple of stages and as the rally entered the final stage, a short 3 mile blast over the top of the ranges, Chris was still 2 and a half minutes ahead. However fate was to play a cruel last minute joke on the young man. Half way through the stage a sheep ran into the road on a very fast section and with Chris travelling at an estimated 70mph there was no chance to react. With a sickening crunch the front of the car sustained the majority of the impact and the engine cut out immediately.
Despite the car being fairly badly damaged Chris, who originally built this car himself, forced the bonnet open, reconnected wires that had been knocked loose in the impact, and managed to get going again. However the car was mortally injured and with coolant and oil leaking it was a testament to Chris’s mechanical sympathy that they were able to nurse it to the finish. With the bonnet latches broken Chris had no option but to complete the stage with the bonnet open and his head hanging out of the window Jim Carrey style!
Despite dropping nearly 2 minutes in the final stage young Reid would cruelly be robbed of victory when he accrued 1 minutes worth of road penalties nursing the failing Peugeot back to the final time control in Builth Wells! Even with all of these last minute setbacks the young man would eventually be classified second in class, a galling 46 seconds behind Stefan Davis!
Today has been incredible. This rally has been so much fun and I haven’t been able to wipe the smile of my face. We found a comfortable pace immediately and were happy to pull out an advantage without having to take any risks. To hit that sheep in the final stage was really cruel luck but at least we managed to make it to the finish, even if the car looks a bit bent now! Enthused the newly crowned champion, who then added slyly I’ve never really been a great fan of mutton!
With the title now well and truly wrapped up Chris can relax and concentrate on his next step. I’m not sure of our plans now. Everything has been poured into competing in the championship so now its time to try and source the sponsorship for the next step. Last time the 205 title was won like this was by Richard Burns who then went on to drive for Subaru. I’m not sure if they have my phone number so perhaps I should call them instead?
You could be forgiven for thinking that, after his recent dominant performances on gravel, that this kind of showing by Chris was to be expected but considering this was his first experience of rallying on tarmac, plus he had never completed a recce before and yet, even with these handicaps was still setting times comparable with the top Ford Fiesta ST150’s this really and truly was a remarkable performance by the young farmer!
I’d just like to say a final thanks to everyone who has assisted me this year, from the team at AB Motorsport, to Quark Motorsport and SnavenitraM, as well as my family for all their support – this wouldn’t have been possible without all of you!
Image courtesy of SnavenitraM
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