Imagine that you went to work and your office was ‘travelling at a hundred miles an hour’.
For World Rally Champion and FIA vice-president Robert Reid, that was reality for over a decade.
Perthshire-raised Robert, 58, made his name as a rally co-driver.
In partnership with the renowned Richard Burns, he became World Rally Champion in 2001.
While many people may think of a co-driver as a person sitting with a clipboard, “who seems to be talking gobbledygook”, Robert insists that there’s much more to the role.
“In terms of on the competitive stages, the co-driver’s main job is to read the pace notes so the driver knows where he’s going, and he’ll drive as fast as he can,” he explains.
“This is on what can be a narrow, slippy, forest road, or a tarmac stage as we have now in various rallies in Scotland.”
Despite the precarious conditions and intense speeds involved in his rallying, Robert didn’t experience any serious injuries.
“Crashes are sort of part and parcel of it, but touch wood nothing serious happened to me,” he smiles.
A co-driver is also responsible for tasks like entering rallies, organising crew and coordinating with other professions.
“I always say the co-driver is kind of this office manager, doing everything so that all the driver has to do is drive,” adds Robert.
Starting in Perthshire
Robert was brought up on a farm near Spittalfield in Perthshire.
As a pupil at the nearby Strathallan School, he met a friend whose father did some motorsport and his interest was instantly piqued.
“As soon as I could get my driver’s licence I joined the local car club…the 55 Car Club in Perth,” he recalls.
“I started doing fun, motorsporty stuff. The kind of stuff you can do in your road car.”
With both of his brothers carrying on the farming trade, Robert found that he had to learn most of the ins and outs of the motorsport alone.
“I think it’s the unconscious incompetence is how they classify it,” he explains. “Not knowing what you don’t know.”
He reckons that his career would have been sped up if he had an experienced figure in his life like some of the racing world’s major players.
“One of the classic examples is someone like Max Verstappen in Formula 1. His father’s a Formula 1 driver so he knew what he knew,” Robert continues.
But while he admits that he was in the right place at the right time to get some opportunities, he also believes that you “make your opportunities in life”.
“I would say that luck is where planning and opportunity meet,” he muses.
The rise to international fame
One such instance was when Robert partnered with Englishman Richard Burns, who he would remain with throughout his professional career.
The men were competing in the same event in Wales in 1991 when they got chatting in a bar after the race.
“We realised we had similar ambition,” Robert recalls. “And over a period of time, and various phone calls, we decided to team up for the next year.”
The pair, over the course of more than a decade, achieved a world title and were runner-up twice.
They raced for the Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Peugeot rally teams during their career – though interestingly now, Robert drives an electric Audi Q4.
However, their rallying came to an end in 2003 when Richard Burns was diagnosed with a brain tumour after he blacked out at the wheel.
Tragically, on 25 November 2005, four years to the day after the pair’s World Championship win, Burns died at the age of 34.
“At that point I spent four days a week with him, helping him with his illness.” Robert reveals.
Life after racing
The death of his partner marked the end of Robert’s rallying days, but he never left the world of motorsport.
He embarked on a project with the UK governing body, where he worked as a consultant nurturing new talents in the industry, including the likes of Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin and Jake Dennis.
From there, Robert became involved with the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the international governing body of motorsport.
“I got reacquainted with Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who I’d known from the ‘90s from competing in world rallies against him,” says Robert.
“When Mohammed decided to launch his bid to become FIA President, he asked me to be his Vice President for Sport.”
Since the pair won the election in December 2021, Robert has been working to create positive change through the FIA.
Expanding the world of motorsport
“My passion is growing the sport,” Robert says.
The FIA currently has 147 member countries, but the goal is to get more people into racing.
One recent project to help is Motorsport In a Box. It sees a box sent out to countries containing the essentials to create a starter motorsport event.
“If we can get real, entry level people turning up in their mum’s car (don’t tell mum), or turning up in a road car, then the opportunity is there to go further,” Robert explains.
Not all fame and fortune
Despite the glamour of the track, Robert reveals there is a darker side to a life in motorsport.
The pressure to have an online presence means figures are often targeted by trolls or hateful messages. This was particularly prominent in wake of the backlash the FIA received after becoming involved with Formula 1.
Recently, the organisation has launched a campaign called United Against Online Abuse.
It found that failing to address online abuse in sport may cause competitors to withdraw from competing.
Robert made the decision two years ago to remove himself from social media.
“That’s primarily because I get enough hate messages without posting, so if I start posting it’s just going to get worse,” he says.
“It’s regrettable that people in my position have to temporarily take themselves off these platforms just because of all the keyboard warriors.”
A different path
Still, it’s those closest to him whose opinions he holds dear.
And Robert says his parents are extremely proud of the road he’s taken.
“I think it’s been a talking point in the golf club on quite a few occasions probably,” he jokes.
“Mum was always concerned when I was competing from a danger point of view.
“But they’re very proud of what I’ve achieved and the fact I’ve gone off and made my own path.”
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