UK (5/11/2010) -The fantastic
Grand Prix Circuit at Porters Pit, Desertmartin,
provided the venue to kick-start the 2010
Goldspeed ACU British Quad Championship at
the weekend, Quad Racing Ireland promoting
a double header and rounds 1 and 2 of the
series on Saturday the 8th and Sunday the
9th of May. With most of the best riders Europe
converging on the beautifully prepared circuit
and clear blue skies overhead, the stage was
set for some thrilling action as the thirty-two
strong field battled it out over the two days.
Travelling the relatively short distance
from his base in Comber to the
challenging sand based track, Reid and the
Justwin Racing team had their sights firmly
focused on a good start to the season at their
home event, but unfortunately for Reid a freak
incident in the opening race was to ruin any
chance of a good result.
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Justin Reid on his Can-Am DS450 Xmx
ATV got a good start in 6th place |
Lining up in 7th position on the grid for heat
one, Reid got fantastic drive off the line and
rounded the first corner 6th as the field charged
out on the first lap of the twenty minute plus
two-lap moto, and using the excellent handling
of the Justwin Racing Can-Am from the outset
began to work his way towards the front to complete
the first full circuit in 5th. Gradually increasing
his pace as the track came to him, Reid set
a blistering pace taking 4th fastest time of
the race in the process as he fought his way
towards the front, involved in a furious battle
with Paul Winrow with the pair swapping positions
twice on lap three, before Reid made 4th position
his own and began to pull away from the current
champion.
Finding new lines and constantly closing
in on the leading trio ahead, Reid was poised
to move in to a podium position with four
laps left to run, when disaster struck, one
of the leading group stopping dead on landing
over the fast step up with Reid already airborne
on the same line and unable to avoid the resultant
collision and crash. Quickly getting to his
feet and with a lot of pain in his wrist,
a quick survey of his stricken machine showed
the impact had completely sheared the steering
tie rod preventing further participation in
the race, a quick trip to the medical centre
to get checked over ruling out any further
racing for the weekend with a suspected broken
wrist.
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The
aftermath of Reid's quad after he crash-landed
on Holme's ATV on an up-hill double
section of the sandy track |
"This has been a nightmare start to my
championship campaign. I got a pretty good start
from the extreme inside of the gate and was
surprised at how good my pace was as I've been
recovering from a broken scaphoid that I picked
up during the winter Supercross series. Paul
Winrow came past on the second lap but I was
able to pass him back on the next lap and pull
a bit of a gap. As the race progressed I was
just concentrating on riding smoothly, as I
knew that this was going to be a long weekend
with 6 races in 2 days, but I was closing in
on 2nd and 3rd places. With about 3 or 4 laps
to go I really started to push but as I crested
the uphill double I saw Holmes sitting stationary
right where I had spotted to land. My quad hit
his before I had even touched the ground - so
there was absolutely nothing that I could do
to avoid it. I've broken my left wrist and also
fractured a small bone in my right wrist so
I'm afraid I'll be sitting out the rest of this
weekend. It's seven weeks to the next round
so it's doubtful that I will be up to speed
by then but the main focus is on getting healed
properly now and you never know!'
