Legendary ‘Dromara Destroyer’ Brian Reid was more than an interested spectator during Wednesday’s pre-season test at Kirkistown in Co Down.

The ex-double Formula Two world champion (1985 and ’86) was keeping a watchful eye on his two sons, Simon (16) and Mark (21), who were blasting around the airfield circuit on a 10-year-old Suzuki SV650 purchased by their road racing hero dad.

Reid bought the machine not with a racing future in mind for his sons, but rather ‘for a bit of fun’.

However, after a few laps of Kirkistown the bike racing bug was beginning to bite hard and few observers would be surprised to see the Reid brothers on the grid for real in the not too distant future.

Reid told News Letter Sport he would neither ‘encourage or discourage’ his boys from trying their luck at short circuit racing, although road racing - at which their dad excelled - is definitely out of the question.

“I bought the bike for a bit of fun basically; I had no championships or any racing in mind,” he said.

“That’s what I had planned anyway, but they’ve had a couple of runs out on the bike now and they’re talking about going racing even though they haven’t even got their licences yet!

“I’d really prefer it if they just did track days, I don’t know about the hassle of getting into full-time racing again.

“But they’re old enough to know now themselves and I suppose they are competitive and want to get racing - let’s say I’m not encouraging them or discouraging them.

“I’ll wait and see what they want to do themselves,” added Reid.

“Both of them have always been interested in bikes and Simon was an Ulster and Irish schoolboy motocross champion.

“They’ve always been interested.”

Ex-schoolboy motocross champion Simon said he had no plans to follow in his dad’s footsteps by taking up racing between the hedges.

And needless to say Irish road racing legend Reid was quick to voice his total approval, saying: “There will definitely be no road racing.”

It’s a perfectly logical response from a father who has diced with death and lived to tell the tale.

But then again, road racing is in the blood, isn’t that what they say?


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