Robert Reid (co-driver)

Last updated

Robert Reid
Ss1 5rb.jpg
Reid with Richard Burns in 2001
Personal information
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Born (1966-02-17) 17 February 1966 (age 58)
World Rally Championship record
Active years1991–2003
Teams Subaru, Mitsubishi, Peugeot
Rallies103
Championships 1 (2001)
Rally wins 10
Podiums34
Stage wins277
First rally1991 RAC Rally
First win1998 Safari Rally Kenya
Last win2001 Rally New Zealand
Last rally2003 Rally Catalunya

Robert Reid (born 17 February 1966) is a retired British rally co-driver who became 2001 World Rally Champion alongside champion driver Richard Burns (1971–2005). [1] [2] Since retiring from competition, Reid has held various positions with both Motorsport UK and FIA, and since 2021 is the serving FIA Deputy President for Sport. [3]

Contents

Reid's partnership with Burns lasted from 1991 until 2003 during which time they entered into 103 world rallies, achieving 10 victories, 277 stage wins and 34 podium finishes. [4] [2] His previous motorsport governance and administration roles have included President of the FIA Closed Road Commission, Vice-President of the WRC Commission and a member of the FIA International Sporting Code Review Commission. [3]

Career

Early years

Reid's first stage rally was the 1984 Hackle Rally, a round of the Scottish Rally Championship. [5] For seven years he competed in many different rallies around the United Kingdom co-driving for many notable drivers including Robbie Head, Colin McRae and Alister McRae. [5] However, he is most well known for his long and successful partnership with Richard Burns. [1]

Burns and Reid

In 1991 Burns and Reid formed a new partnership and placed 16th in the British round of the World Rally Championship that year. [4] The following year they finished in 7th place and in 1993 they won the British Rally Championship driving a Subaru making Burns the youngest ever British champion. [4] In 1994 and 1995 Burns and Reid competed in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship and occasionally rounds of the World Rally Championship. [4] Their best result was third in the 1995 British round of the World Rally Championship driving a Subaru. [4]

1996-1998 Mitsubishi

Between 1996 and 1998 Burns and Reid drove for Mitsubishi with their results improving every year. [4] In 1996 they placed fifth in the Australian round and fourth in the Argentinian round of the World Rally Championship. [4] The following year they finished fourth in the British, Australian, Indonesian, New Zealand and Greek rounds of the Championship as well as placing second in the Kenyan round. [4] Even further progress was made in 1998 with their first ever victory in the Kenyan round of the World Rally Championship and a first at the British round of the Championship. [4] They placed sixth overall in the 1998 World Rally Championship season. [4]

1999-2001 Subaru

In 1999 Burns and Reid switched manufacturer and drove for Subaru. [4] They won the Greek, Australian and British rounds of the Championship and finished second in the Argentinian, Finnish and Chinese rounds. [4] Overall they finished runners-up in the 1999 World Rally Championship season. [4]

The following year Burns and Reid would finish runners-up a second time even though they won four rounds of the 2000 World Rally Championship season. [4] They finished first in the Kenyan, Portuguese, Argentinian and British rounds but Marcus Grönholm still managed to beat them at the end of the season by five points. [4]

2001 World Rally Champions

In 2001 Burns and Reid would win their first and only World Rally Championship title finishing two points ahead of Colin McRae. [4] They won the New Zealand round of the Championship and placed second at the Argentinian, Cypriot, Finnish and Australian rounds. [4] Burns became the first English driver to become world champion.

2002-2003 Peugeot

The move to Peugeot did not prove to be as successful, though they did manage four second place finishes in the 2002 season at the Spanish, Cypriot, Finnish and German rounds of the Championship. [4] Marcus Grönholm won the title by thirty points from his nearest rival. Burns and Reid finished in fifth place overall. [4]

Burns and Reid managed two second place and five third place positions in the 2003 Championship, giving them an outside chance of re-claiming the world title going into the Wales Rally GB, the final rally of the 2003 World Rally Championship season. [4] Whilst driving to the final event, Burns suffered a blackout at the wheel and was withdrawn from the event. Burns was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. Throughout Burns' illness, Reid spent two to three days per week with him and did not want to race with any other driver. [6] On 25 November 2005 four years to the day since Burns and Reid had won the World Championship title, Burns died.

According to the online rally database eWRC-Results.com and Reid's own testimony, he has only entered one rally since Burns was taken ill, the 2008 Richard Burns Memorial Rally. He was co-driver to Estonian Markko Martin, who was with Burns on the day he fell ill. [6] [2] [7] In 2007, Reid was contacted by Colin McRae to potentially act as his co-driver in a return to the World Rally Championships. The pair were due to test together, but McRae was killed a week before the test. [8]

Non-racing career

Since retiring from competition Reid has held several governance and administration positions within motorsport. He spent several years as the Performance Director of the UK Motor Sport Association establishing elite programmes to develop young driver talent in the United Kingdom. [9] More recently he has been working alongside Alexander Wurz to select and train emerging talent at the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy. [9]

His positions at the FIA have included being Vice-President of the World Rally Championship Commission, the Chair of WRC Stewards and Chair of the International Sporting Code Review Commission. In 2021 he was elected Deputy President for Sport alongside Mohammed bin Sulayem. [3]

Reid, along with Richard Burns, lent his voice and likeness in the 2004 sim rally game Richard Burns Rally as the player's co-driver.

WRC victories

 # EventSeasonDriverCar
1 Flag of Kenya.svg Safari Rally 1998 Richard Burns Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
2 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rally of Great Britain Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V
3 Flag of Greece.svg Acropolis Rally 1999 Subaru Impreza WRC 99
4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rally Australia
5 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rally of Great Britain
6 Flag of Kenya.svg Safari Rally 2000
7 Flag of Portugal.svg Rallye de Portugal Subaru Impreza WRC 00
8 Flag of Argentina.svg Rally Argentina
9 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rally of Great Britain
10 Flag of New Zealand.svg Rally New Zealand 2001 Subaru Impreza WRC 2001

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petter Solberg</span> Norwegian rally driver (born 1974)

Petter Solberg is a Norwegian former professional rally and rallycross driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Rally Championship</span> Rallying championship series, highest level of rallying competition

The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Burns</span> British rally driver (1971–2005)

Richard Alexander Burns was an English rally driver who won the 2001 World Rally Championship, having previously finished runner-up in the series in 1999 and 2000. He also helped Mitsubishi to the world manufacturers' title in 1998, and Peugeot in 2002. His co-driver in his whole career was Robert Reid. He is the only Englishman to have won the World Rally Championship as a driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Sainz Sr.</span> Spanish rally driver (born 1962)

Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën. In the 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommi Mäkinen</span> Finnish rally driver (born 1964)

Tommi Antero Mäkinen is a Finnish racing executive and former rally driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Grönholm</span> Finnish rally driver (born 1968)

Marcus Ulf Johan "Bosse" Grönholm is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Championship driver. Grönholm's nicknames are either "Bosse" or "Magic Marcus". Grönholm is one of the most successful WRC drivers of all time, ranking third in rally wins (30), and winning two championships, in 2000 and 2002. After Peugeot withdrew from the World Rally Championship, Grönholm moved to Ford for the 2006 season and placed second in the drivers' world championship, losing out to Sébastien Loeb by one point. The next year he again placed second, four points behind Loeb. He and his co-driver Timo Rautiainen retired from rallying after the 2007 season but returned to the championship in 2009 driving a private Subaru for a short period of time, and in the 2019 World Rally Championship where he competed in a Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT-maintained Toyota Yaris under the GRX Team banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Atkinson</span> Australian rally driver (born 1979)

Christopher James Atkinson is a professional rally driver. In the World Rally Championship (WRC), Atkinson drove for the Subaru World Rally Team between 2004 and 2008. His best finish on an individual WRC event is second, which he achieved at the 2008 Rally México and Rally Argentina. Other podium placings include third-place finishes at the 2005 Rally Japan and the 2008 Monte Carlo Rally.

The 2001 World Rally Championship was the 29th season of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC). In a tightly contested year, Subaru's Richard Burns took his first and only drivers' world title, beating Ford's Colin McRae, Mitsubishi's Tommi Mäkinen and the defending champion Marcus Grönholm of Peugeot. Peugeot successfully defended their manufacturers' title.

The 2000 World Rally Championship was the 28th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 14 rallies. The drivers' world championship was won by Marcus Grönholm in a Peugeot 206 WRC, breaking the streak of Tommi Mäkinen who had won the previous 4 titles for Mitsubishi, ahead of Richard Burns and Carlos Sainz. The manufacturers' title was won by Peugeot, ahead of Ford and Subaru.

The 1998 World Rally Championship was the 26th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies. Tommi Mäkinen won his third consecutive drivers' world championship driving for Mitsubishi, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae. The manufacturers' title was won by Mitsubishi, ahead of Toyota and Subaru. This year also marked the Ford Escort's last full-season works outing before being replaced by the Ford Focus WRC in 1999. The season ended in dramatic fashion when Carlos Sainz's Corolla WRC stopped approximately 300 metres from the finishing line in the final stage at Margam due to mechanical failure, thus surrendering his fourth place on the rally and handing the title to Mäkinen.

The 1997 World Rally Championship was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season saw many changes in the championship. Most notably, Group A was partially replaced by the World Rally Car with manufacturers given the option which regulations to construct to. One inherent benefit to manufacturers by adopting WRC regulations was removing the need to mass-produce road-going versions of the cars that they competed with, under the previous rules for homologation. This meant that vehicles such as the Escort RS Cosworth and Subaru Impreza Turbo no longer had to be mass-produced for general sale in order to compete at World Championship level, and thus acting as a means of attracting increased competition and involvement by manufacturers. In the few years that follow, the Championship saw the added presence of WRC cars from companies such as Toyota, Hyundai, Seat, Citroën, and Peugeot, who would all compete under WRC regulations without having to manufacture equivalent specialised road cars for public sale. Both Ford and Subaru switched to WRC in 1997, except Mitsubishi who stayed with Group A to maintain the links to their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution road cars. Subaru's transition was much more gradual for similar reasons with the early Subaru Impreza WRCs still largely Group A in nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia-Pacific Rally Championship</span> FIA regional rally championship

The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA encompassing rounds in Asia and Oceania. Group N cars dominated the championship for many years but in recent years cars built to R5 and S2000 regulations have tended to be the frontrunners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford World Rally Team</span> 1978-2012 World Rally Championship manufacturer team

The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the Ford Motor Co. Team prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Company's motorsport arm selected the Malcolm Wilson Motorsport company to run its factory team, entering the Ford Escort World Rally Car. The new team took their first victory in the 1997 Acropolis Rally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Grist</span> British rally co-driver (born 1961)

Nicholas Mark Grist is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver.

Eugene Donnelly is a rally driver from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, who races in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subaru World Rally Team</span> 1980-2008 rallying team, three-time winner of the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

The Subaru World Rally Team (SWRT) was Subaru's World Rally Championship (WRC) team. It used a distinctive blue with yellow colour scheme that is a throwback to the sponsorship deal with State Express 555, a BAT cigarette brand popular in Asia. 555 logos were found on Subaru cars from 1993 to 2003, although less prevalent since 1999 due to BAT's participation in Formula One with British American Racing. Subaru's WRC efforts date back to 1980, however, in 1989 British firm Prodrive took over its operations, and its base moved from Japan to Banbury, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot Sport</span> Motorsport division of Peugeot

Peugeot Sport is the department of French carmaker Peugeot responsible for motorsport activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Cave</span> British rally driver

Thomas Cave is a British rally driver. He is the son of club rally driver Peter Cave and his ambition is to become the next British champion in the FIA World Rally Championship. He is the UK's first minor international rally driver and achieved his international rally licence, issued in Latvia, at the age of 16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Ingram (rally driver)</span> British rally driver (born 1994)

Chris Ingram is a British rally driver. In 2019, Ingram became the first British driver to win the European Rally Championship (2019) in 52 years since Vic Elford.

References

  1. 1 2 "Robert Reid". Motor Sports Association. 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Shacki. "Robert Reid - rally profile eWRC-results.com". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 "Robert REID". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Robert Reid". www.rallye-info.com. 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Robert Reid". www.rallycodrivermagazine.co.uk. 26 July 2000. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  6. 1 2 Q&A: Robert Reid, archived from the original on 11 September 2010, retrieved 13 December 2017
  7. ↑ "Motorsport: Martin steers Burns to safety". belfasttelegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Benyon, Jack. "McRae could have rejoined Subaru for 2008". Motorsport News. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Interview: FIA Institute Academy's Robert Reid". FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy. 2010. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.