Reid moved by Rallyday tribute to Burns and Park.

by Rob Wilkins

Robert Reid has that he definitely had a lump in his throat at the recent 2006 Rallyday, when everyone gathered to remember Richard Burns and Michael Park at mid-day and observe a one minutes silence.

Burns and Park both passed away at the end of last year, the latter while competing on the Wales Rally GB, while the former lost his battle against cancer in November. Following the one-minutes silence, Richard's dad, Alex, led a parade of fifty special edition Subaru Impreza RB5's on track at the Castle Combe circuit, driving the RB5 001, which was owned by his son.

"It was poignant moment," Reid told Crash.net Radio when asked about it. "This was Richard's last public appearance - last year we came with his cars and had various drivers' driving them around. For me there was definitely a bit of a lump in my throat with the whole thing.

"It is great to see so many of the RB5 owners club at the event too, I think we had 55 or something out of the 444 cars ever sold and Richard's dad, Alex, was driving chassis number one, which Richard personally owned - until today it hadn't actually been out. So yeah - it was a really special moment."

Earlier this month the Richard Burns Foundation was launched at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It has been set up in memory of both and to help 'raise resources and awareness of projects that help people of all ages in their fight against adversity'.

"Goodwood was great and like this event it is phenomenal to see some many enthusiasts together and it was good opportunity to launch the Richard Burns Foundation," Reid added. "There are several things with that - it includes the Michael Park Fund, as well. Richard and Michael were two of my closest friends and to have lost them within a couple of months of each other last year... it wasn't the nicest two months of my life. So it was a natural thing to try and do something with it. What we are trying to do is make it truly international and not just rallying, so Goodwood was a great place to launch."

Since the Rallyday it has been confirmed that ?50,000 was raised at Goodwood, when a number of stars showed their support for the charity, including British F1 driver, Jenson Button.

"Motorsport is a great way, with the fact that Richard and 'Beef' were involved at such a high level, in getting the message out internationally. I have had calls from Japan wanting the website in Japanese and the ability to make donations in their local currency and all the rest. So the plan is to use WRC events to get the message out there," Reid continued.

"I think it is important in order to support the non-British teams and drivers, but also it is a case of not just being international in rallying, I mean, Jenson [Button] came onto the stand at Goodwood and was very keen to help out and do stuff. David [Coulthard] unfortunately couldn't be there, he was going to be, but phoned me to say unfortunately he couldn't come along, but all these guys want to support as well. I think what happened to Michael and Richard in their separate ways, really resonates with a lot of young guys involved in motorsport. We all feel a bit 'Peter Pan' at times and believe that is not going to happen to us - and that is accidents and illness. And to have somebody in Richard, who was leading the World Rally Championship at one moment and then is diagnosed with a very serious condition, less than a week later, I know, Jenson came to me at Goodwood and said it had made him go and get properly checked out - just to make sure there was nothing up with him or nothing on the horizon. Even that message in itself can save a lot of lives."

STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS.

Donations to the Richard Burns Foundation can be made via SMS by texting RBF to 82344, which will make of donation of ?2.50 - of which appromimately ?1.80 will go to the Richard Burns Foundation*.

All donations made to the foundation during July will go to the Youth Cancer Trust - a charitable trust providing free, fun activity based holidays for young people aged 14-25 suffering with cancer or any malignant disease. More information is available at www.yct.org.uk.

For more information on the Richard Burns Foundation, visit www.RichardBurnsFoundation.com.

* - Messages charged at standard rate. You will receive a confirmation message, charged at ?2.50. The Richard Burns Foundation will receive your donation net of charges applied by mobile network operators and a processing fee. Further info is available on RichardBurnsFoundation.com, or contact Richard Burns Foundation Ltd., PO Box 687, Oxford, OX1 9LD, United Kingdom.