Motorsport: Reid back to winning ways

Jonny Reid has made an immediate impact on the Porsche series in Australia with wins in Melbourne and Perth. Photo / Supplied

The greatest motorsport moment for Aucklander Jonny Reid so far as a professional driver was winning the 2006 A1GP Indonesia and hearing the New Zealand national anthem on the podium.

Over the next few A1GP seasons Reid would taste more success and it looked like the motor racing world was his oyster. By the 2008-09 season Reid had seven wins under his belt and had finished second in the series twice. However, by the end of 2009 the series was on its knees under a crushing weight of unpaid bills and impounded cars, and it folded.

Although Reid appeared to fall off the New Zealand radar, he continued to follow his dream of becoming a professional racing driver and headed to Europe to race in the Auto GP where he finished 10th.

"A lot of my racing gets missed a little bit by the general New Zealand media but it was an awesome season up in Europe last year in the old A1GP Lola cars," said Reid.

"It's actually running again this year and they were keen to have me back in the series but I thought a longer career path would be in sports cars.

"I came back and did the New Zealand Porsche series in September last year and only lost out on the NZ championship by getting a puncture in the last race. One thing led to another and I organised a drive with Porsche Australia in the Carrera Cup. The Giltrap Group and Australian company Simjen came on board and it all fell together."

Reid's Carrera Cup season this year got off to a flyer when he plonked his car on pole in Melbourne at the Formula One Grand Prix weekend and promptly went on to win race one. In race two he had a mechanical issue when the fuel pump kept cutting in and out and finished sixth. In race three he spun trying to avoid an accident, finishing midfield.

"The weekend was a bit of a mixed bag and we left Melbourne sixth on the table, 75 points of the championship leader Craig Baird," said Reid.

Round two in Perth was much better and although Reid hadn't been to the Barbagello circuit before he showed the field just how much class in tintops he has.

Starting from fourth on the grid Reid took off like a scalded cat, settling into second where he finished. Reid hit the lead in race two and went on to take the win. Starting from pole in race three Reid was headed by Baird initially, but regained the lead about half race distance to notch up another win.

"When I jumped in the car it felt great straight away and I was very, very happy with the practice times. It's a smallish circuit and as the V8 drivers will attest, it gets flooded with cars most of a lap.

"We managed our tyres really well over the weekend and came away with the round win and jumped into third place in the championship and I am now only 30 points off the lead held by Steve Richards," said Reid.

At this point Reid is happy to continue racing in Australia in the Carrera Cup series while at the same time keeping his eyes open for other opportunities that may arise.

His dream of being a professional racer continues and if he keeps up his winning ways, the young man from Auckland may just get another crack at an international title somewhere in the world.

"I've raced in a lot of places all around the world and I love it.

"I love racing the Porsches and want a career in sports cars and would love to race V8 Supercars. In the meantime I just want to keep on winning," said Reid.

His next race is at the V8 Supercars round up in Townsville on July 8-10.

Jonny Reid

* Multiple NZ karting champion - 1996-2000

* Australian karting - 3rd in national championships 2001

* Formula Ford champion NZ 2000-2003

* New Zealand Grand Prix winner 2003

* Australian Formula Holden Championship 2nd 2003

* European Formula 3000 Championship 4th 2004 plus best rookie

* Awarded the Bruce McLaren Trophy at the Drivers Awards in the UK for "The Most Meritorious Driver in the Commonwealth" 2004

* Race winner in Japanese Formula 3 2005-2006

* Seven wins A1GP 2005-2008

* A1GP 2nd in championship twice 2006, 2008

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