New Era

WINDHOEK - The writer of these lines has seen plenty of rider-profiles during the course of his long engagement in signing riders, but never before such an interesting list of accomplishments as supplied by one of the riders from Scotland, Richard Reid.

This man has tried everything on two off-road-wheels possible. The list is just too long to be publicised, so I will just pick the most interesting points. Let him tell you his story:

Name: Richard ReidÂ
Born: 3rd Nov 1970.

"I started racing in 1984 in the 80cc Schoolboy Class inÂ Scotland, and in 1987 I was 2nd in the Scottish 125 Schoolboy Class. I moved into the Junior Adult Class the following year and finished 2nd, which qualified me to compete in the Open Class in 1989, in which I finished 4th.

"In 1989 I was also chosen to compete in the Zimbabwe International Summer Series, which I won,Â This trip started a fascination with Africa for me, which has kept me coming back again and again.
"I finished 7th in the Scottish Championship in 1990, after missing a couple of roundsÂ with injury. I also competed in the British 125 and 250 Championship and though I could only score a few points, it was always difficult having to travel the long distances whilst holding down a job.Â

"I also won a few rounds of the British Clubmens Class which was a qualifiers class for theÂ British Open Class.
"I was again invited to Zimbabwe in 1990 for the Summer SeriesÂ in which I finished 2nd and during this trip we were also invited to Zambia to compete in a few races there, and train the junior riders.

"1991 I finished again 7th in the Scottish Championship. I was invited back to Zambia, sponsored by Zambian Airways, and competed there and again in Zimbabwe at the Summer Series finishing 2nd.

"1992Â I stayed behind in ZimbabweÂ for a while before moving to South Africa where I competed in a few SA MX ChampionshipsÂ finishing top 10. I returned home to the UK to race a few races before returning to Zimbabwe for the Summer Series, again finishing 2nd.
"1994 I finishedÂ top 10Â in Scotland and also competed in the Irish Championship finishing 10th overall. IÂ also rode for ScotlandÂ at the International Six Days (world's biggest hard Enduro Competition) in USA,Â finishing with a silver medal.Â

"Again I travelled to Zimbabwe for the Summer Series.
"1995, I again rode the International Six Days, this time in Poland, but retired after three days with an injured shoulder.

"I won the 250 class at the Zimbabwe Summer Series that year. I also remember doing a race in Botswana at OrapaÂ that year.Â

"In 2007 I had my first race in Namibia, which I enjoyed very much and came back for the Namibian Inter-Series finishing overall 9th. "

Richard Reid will be accompanied by his friend Peter Mitchell, who was born on the 27th February 1987 in Drumoak Aberdeenshire (Scotland).

A landscape gardener by profession, Peter started riding on his family's "Holiday Park" in 1992, at the tender age of nine in the 65cc Class.

He won the Scottish Schoolboy Championship in the 125cc Class in 2003, and became North East Area Scotland Champion in 2006 before he won the prestigious "Grampian Motorcycle Championship" in the same year.

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