25/04/2007
NEWS STORY
The New Zealand A1GP team's foundation drivers will share driving duties during the season finale of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in England this weekend.
Matt Halliday and Jonny Reid will drive one race each in the 11th and final round at Brands Hatch as the team concentrates on cementing second place in the championship.
Germany has already clinched the title and New Zealand is in second place, 14 points clear of third placed Great Britain. Securing four points from the weekend will be enough to repel the home team's challenge, even if GBR was to secure a maximum 17 points.
Halliday was originally pencilled in to race at Brands Hatch, but Reid's compelling form, including winning the feature race in the last A1GP round in Shanghai, changed the landscape for team owner Colin Giltrap.
"They've both contributed so much to an outstanding season and they're both keen to help ensure we secure the runner-up spot among the 22 competing nations," Giltrap said. "We're a tight-knit team and to have the pair of them involved at the business end of the championship is a fitting reward for their efforts."
Reid and Halliday will each have a one-hour practice session to brush up on the circuit lay-out and a decision will then be made on who drives in qualifying and which driver takes the wheel for the 20-minute Sprint Race before handing over the wheel for the subsequent 70-minute Feature Race.
Halliday and Reid have had contrasting preparation for this weekend's round. Reid had last weekend off after his Shanghai win, enjoying the chance to be a spectator at the V8 Supercars' final fling at Pukekohe. Halliday, on the other hand, has completed his third successive weekend of racing in the Champ Car World Series. The series kicked off in Las Vegas on April 8 before heading to Long Beach, California and Houston, Texas.
"It will be my fourth competitive weekend on the trot," Halliday said. "But I'm feeling good and I'd like to put into practice everything I've learnt over the past month. It's been something of a crash course in race strategy and attacking the pit stops and I think A1GP will be less daunting after my Champ Car experience. It will also be good to get back to Brands Hatch, a circuit I know well and where we exceeded expectations in the first-ever A1GP round back in 2005."
Reid, who is just getting over a lingering cold, is keen to reacquaint himself with the tight Brands Hatch circuit. He drove one of the three practice sessions before the opening A1GP race, but was hampered by wet conditions. "I've got a fairly good idea of the circuit and I'm very keen to have a decent crack at it," Reid said.
"We're not being distracted by sharing the drive because Great Britain will be fired up on their home circuit. We're in a strong position, but I've seen funnier things happen in motor-racing and we have to stay focused. We're treating this weekend like any other and we'll push to win and get as many points as possible. We can worry about the points table afterwards."