Nicky Grist
Nicky Grist
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Welsh |
| Born | 1 November 1961 |
| World Rally Championship record | |
| Active years | 1985–2002, 2005-2006 |
| Rallies | 134 |
| Rally wins | 21 |
| Podiums | 48 |
| Stage wins | N/A |
| Total points | N/A |
| First rally | 1985 Lombard RAC Rally |
| First win | 1993 Rally Argentina |
| Last win | 2002 Inmarsat Safari Rally |
| Last rally | 2006 Rally of Turkey |
Nicky Grist (born 1 November 1961) is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver.
Grist's first WRC win was in the Rally Argentina in 1993 with Juha Kankkunen, who at that time was a three times WRC champion. Grist and Kankkunen went on to win the 1993 WRC championship with Toyota. Grist stayed as Kankkunen's co-driver until 1997 when he joined Colin McRae with the 555 Subaru World Rally Team.
Grist remained Colin McRae's co-driver until the Rally New Zealand 2002, during which time the pair two won 17 rallies, 27 podium finishes and gained overall 183 WRC points. Between 2002 and 2006, Grist and McRae also competed together in a number of one off rallies. Grist married Sharon in 1993, at Abergavenny, Wales, in the middle of the recce for Rally Portugal.
Grist started his career as a golf professional at the Monmouthshire Golf Club, and then joined a local car sales centre, where he was given Sundays off. This gave him the opportunity to enter into the relatively inexpensive motorsport of road rallying. His first rally was the George Ford Pips Rally, held in Caldicott in Wales, in a Ford Escort with Bryn Wiltshire driving.
Grist became a full-time professional co-driver with the Ford Motor Company and driver Malcolm Wilson. Competed in the British Open Championship in a Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. Also took part in a test and development programme with Ford's new 4x4 Sapphire Cosworth, consisting of three WRC events, giving Grist his first experience of a WRC event outside Britain. In 1991, he competed in six rounds of the WRC with Malcolm Wilson and the Ford Motor Company. In 1992, only competed in the Safari Rally of the WRC with Toyota Team Europe with driver Mikael Ericsson where the team came fourth. Also co-ordinated with the team for Rally Acropolis and Argentina giving him an insight into the inside working of Team 2.
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