60 seconds with Jonny Reid

NZ Herald

Have you ever owned fluffy dice?

No, definitely not. That’s feminine.

Were you a boy-racer when younger?

Of course … what’s a boy-racer? I wouldn’t say I was a boy-racer, but I liked cars.

Do you stick to the speed limit when driving on the open road?

Yes. I’m a good driver. You have to. To be able to race a car is a right. While I like speed, you can’t jeopardise any of that. I get my kicks on the track. For anyone out there, you can go to the racetrack on an open day and have a blast. I don’t know what your insurance company would think but you can have a lot of fun for not a lot of money.

Do you ever let anyone else drive?

I normally do the driving in my family. I’m a bad back-seat driver.

What is the best thing about being Jonny Reid?

Just getting up in the morning and seeing my little daughter and going racing. It’s really a cool life. I am very fortunate.

What’s the worst thing?

If the worst thing is that you are having a bit of a tough start to your V8 Supercars racing career, it’s not a bad life, is it?

Do you ever get scared racing?

I wouldn’t say scared. It gets full-on when guys drop a wheel in front of you and there’s a massive dust cloud and you come across a parked car in the middle of the track and you are in the back of the bunch and see the car last-minute. It’s very full-on in those situations and I don’t think reaction times are fast enough. But I love what I do. It’s so exciting. There’s nothing better than getting out there and banging doors and having hard, close racing.

What do you think about when you’re racing? Do you ever sing along to the last song you heard on the radio?

Sometimes, but normally if I’m not in the lead it’s, ‘how can I get in the lead?’

What’s the weirdest thing that has happened to you as a race car driver?

It was when we were in Malaysia heading to Sepang for the A1GP. I was being driven in a golf buggy through an airport that went into a hotel and the guy driving (I was the passenger, let’s get this right) went straight into a glass door and it shattered into a million pieces. Thankfully, I didn’t have to pay for it.

60 seconds with Jonny Reid

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