Image coursty of Simon Clarke

March 2006
Round one win for Reid in the Lake District.

Inverurie based junior rally driver Chris Reid took victory in last weekends Malcolm Wilson Rally, the first round of this years Peugeot 205 scholarship.

Having not driven his car since last June, Reid took a steady approach to the start of the event, 4th fastest time on stage 1 was soon followed by fastest times on the next 2 stages as Chris’s confidence grew.
Trouble was not far away as the car ground to a halt en route to service with an electrical problem, after some frantic wobbling of wires the car restarted and the crew continued to service. However within minutes of leaving service on the way to the long Grizedale stage, the car stopped again with the same problem!
Championship co-ordinator Kev Furber and last years championship runner up Tom Curtis were fortunately on hand to trace the problem to a faulty coil.

Stage 4 was the longest of the event, 12.5miles in all, and a cracking run through saw Chris take 25seconds from his nearest competitor and open up a lead of over half a minute.
Stage 5 saw yet more drama when a power steering pipe burst spraying oil on the exhaust sending blue smoke poring from under the bonnet and filling the cockpit making it hard to see and breath!
Chris ‘’I thought I’d damaged the engine so backed right off to make sure I got to the end! I was just glad it was only the steering’’

Back at service the car had its problems sorted and the crew were able to continue with everything fully functional.
Just another 4short stages were to follow and with a lead of nearly 1min 30 Chris was able to back off and save the car ‘’a lot of people have retired today with broken cars due to the rough conditions, so I spent the last four stages driving around pot holes and trying to avoid any rocks that lay in the road!’’ said Chris

Going into round 2 AB Motorsport backed driver Chris is leading not only the 205 1.9 scholarship but also the Peugeot over all championship which is open to any modified Peugeot and also the fastest stage time championship after setting fastest time on 5 out of 9 stages!
Round 2 will be held in the infamous kielder forests on the Pirelli national rally on may 7th.

Chris and Dylan would like to thank everyone who helped them out on the day, in particular, Andy Baker and the AB Motorsport team for preparing a cracking car, Kevin Furber and Tom Curtis for their roadside support and also fellow competitor Stefan Davies’s chase car crew for their help.

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