Hot seat for Sam

By Justin Robertson
PAKENHAM’s Samantha Reid is back in the hot seat.
The 23-year-old dusted off the covers and hopped into her white-coloured Duratec and competed in the Sandown Park Raceway against some of Australia’s best formula Ford racing car drivers over the weekend.
In a field of 34, the three-day event took place in slippery and wet conditions, which made it hard for competitive driving, causing drivers to spin off the circuit at high speeds.
Reid finished 18th and is simply glad to be back racing.
“It’s great to be back competing again,” she said. “I’m not a very good spectator, so to be back in the driver’s seat is a good thing.”
Reid stopped competitive racing four years ago due to the harsh reality of raising enough money to be able to compete. At the lower levels of formula ford racing, Reid said that it can cost up to $100,000 per year just to race – funds she could not accumulate through sponsors.
“You either have to have family wealth or get some sponsors to help you with the financial side of things,” she said. “I had some sponsors pull out because of the Global Economic Crisis, which made it hard, so I’ve only done charity events and one-off appearances over the past four years.”
Now with the backing of three major sponsors – Oakley, RaceSolutions Motorsport and Murcotts Driving Excellence – Reid is back competing full time.
With several crashes and major collisions dominating the weekend’s three races, only eight race laps were completed.
Reid finished 12th in race one, which was her best result and found the going tough to gain ground on the greasy track.
“I escaped unharmed from the crashes, which was good, but the car I’m driving is not made for the wet, the tyres didn’t grip as well as they can during drier conditions,” she said. “You never lose your driving ability being away from the sport, but it takes a while to adjust to the car and the way it’s set up.”
Looking ahead, Reid said she’ll be looking to upgrade her car, which was the oldest of its kind on the track on the weekend and will be aiming to compete in the 12-hour endurance event at Mt. Panorama within the next few years.