04/12/2005
NEWS STORY
New Zealand driver Scott Dixon will be supporting the New Zealand team at the sixth round of the A1 Grand Prix in Dubai next weekend.
For the second time in the Series the 2003 IndyCar Series champion will be a guest of the Kiwi team, but he will leave the competitive driving to Matt Halliday.
A1 Team.NZL chief executive Bob McMurray says Halliday will definitely be in the hot seat for qualifying and Sunday's two races, but the Indianapolis-based Dixon may get behind the wheel in testing.
"We have two extra twenty-minute sessions on Friday to give our second chassis a run and it is possible Scott could drive then to give him a feel for the basic handling of the car," McMurray said.
"We're keen to get his thoughts on the chassis, but we're realistic about how valuable the experience will actually be given the short amount of time available and the relatively long lap at the Dubai Autodrome.
"We're still working towards Scott driving the car in the penultimate round in the United States next March, so the Dubai drive is more like a canapé to that main course. It will be extremely low-key."
Dubai will be the first time Halliday has driven the Black Beauty in consecutive meetings, having shared driving duties with Jonny Reid in the previous five rounds.
"We were following a particular set-up strategy at the last race in Malaysia," McMurray said. "We did not have time to follow that strategy to its conclusion, so we are keen to maintain the momentum with Matt driving in Dubai."
With the inaugural A1GP series in hiatus over Christmas and New Year the New Zealand team is eager to head into the break in a positive position.
New Zealand is an impressive fourth among the 25 nations on the A1GP ladder, behind runaway leader France (92 points), Switzerland (65) and Brazil (60).
Consistency has been the hallmark of Black Beauty, the only car to have finished every race, 10 in total across the first five rounds.