MSA British Rally Academy junior driver Chris Reid made an impressive return to competition on the Multi Wage Granite City Rally last weekend, driving a car on loan from his close friend Christian Prynne.
Reid had been burning the midnight oil for the past six weeks building this 1600GTi back to a serviceable condition after its two year period in little pieces in the corner of his friend's workshop.
All this hard work paid off for Reid and his co-driver Phil Peak as they went on to set blisteringly fast stage times in an event they were to dominate until the last stage.
On spectator specials, stages 1 and 2, around the Aberdeen ECC, Reid opened up a lead of 6 seconds in just 3 miles over the ultra competitive Peugeot 205 challenge competitors.
The rally then moved on to five more stages in the demanding forests of Kincardineshire where Reid was to set a further four fastest times in a row to lead the Peugeot 205 field by 41 seconds and also have the category lead by 30 seconds.
Just one mile into the last stage though Reid sustained a rear puncture forcing him to drive the remaining 8 miles with a shredded tyre. Much to his surprise only 42 seconds were dropped and the crew still managed to finish third in class and second in the Peugeot 205 category.
“What a fantastic rally, it just got better and better as the day went on. It was unfortunate to pick up a puncture so close to the end but that's rallying,” he noted. “I'm just glad to have been so competitive after not having driven competitively since last year – and after not having driven this car until the day before the rally!
“The only bad thing now is that it is all over and I have no budget to compete any more this season. I just hope I can get something sorted and get back out and have another go in the Scottish championships.”
