Team NZL - who should drive?

[Armco Bender]

Scott Dixon wont happen,he's making to many $$$$ to bother with a drive in a lesser series.He said in a interview on TV recently he wouldn't even bother with a F1 drive unless it was for a top team.
Wade Cunningham is hier apparent if Jonny is otherwise engaged.

[Kiwi3]

IRL a superior series to A1GP? Debatable...!

I think it's easy to say you would only accept a top F1 drive when you are not being offered any at all...

[Armco Bender]

Name the A1GP Team paying a driver the money Dixon is making?.

[blew by u]

I think you will find that jonny is actually in new zealand at the moment according to nz media and that he is racing at mexico hopefully we will see to wins this week end as germany not there in the respect of Nico Hulkenburg

go jonny go

[Armco Bender]

Well Jonny's had a look what its like at the back of the grid and didn't like it,hopefully he'll be back up the pointy end again next race.

[Kiwi3]

anyone know what went so horribly wrong in qualifying?

Jonny was in a very fowl mood when interviewed...shows that underneath that nice guy demeanour he is fiercely competitive!

[blew by u]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

anyone know what went so horribly wrong in qualifying?

Jonny was in a very fowl mood when interviewed...shows that underneath that nice guy demeanour he is fiercely competitive!

They made changes over night to the car that they could not rectify back to the setup they had at the friday test. So qualifying was a complete cock up

hense why he was only 3.5 tenths faster on new tyres in qualifying

great race from him tho 16 to 6th is very hard in this class as you loose all your downforce and the tyres over heat when you are behind another car

WELL done Jonny boy

[blew by u]

can somebody tell me why the are putting matt halliday in the car, he already has a champcar deal Reid has nothing signed up anywhere ?

Surely the can see that jonny derserves the drive more

[Kiwi3]

Is it confirmed that Halliday is driving at Brands?

I guess the team still view it as NZ's team not a particular driver's team, which is after all the concept of A1GP. Halliday did very well at Brands last time and they obviously feel that he is just as capable as Johhny of winning this time around.

Also interesting to note that Brendon Hartley won two Renault Euroseries races over the weekend. Obviously a very good third choice will be available if they ever need it.

Not sure how long Halliday will be in Champcar BTW, I think that was only a three race deal?

[blew by u]

halliday and reid both doing 1 race each hope this doesnt upset the balance or gbr will be right there

[Kiwi3]

I would put GBR as favourites anyway. I hope this works, using two drivers in one weekend hasn't really worked before. NED tried it in Mexico and the mechanics found it an unnecessary pain.

[strider]

You're right. If I remember correctly France tried it last season with Premat and Lapierre when they were already champions and it didn't work well even for them.

[ISPL]

Originally Posted by strider

You're right. If I remember correctly France tried it last season with Premat and Lapierre when they were already champions and it didn't work well even for them.

That's right and Premat & Lapiere had very similar driving styles and had been very much interchangeable throughout the whole season.

I am not sure that Reid & Halliday are quite the same which could mean that the set up is right for one and wrong for the other. Or the team opt for a compromise set up which doesn't allow either to drive to their full potential. It will be interesting to see whetehr it works.

[NAC]

Not that happy with the split driver call. One driver for each race gives the driver more time in the car to get to grips with the track. My money would be on Reid all the way and secure 2nd overall for the team.

[strider]

It seems now that after Jonny Reid dropped the car on the second lap of the free practice session today, they are going to give it to Matt Halliday for the rest of the weekend. He will do the final free practice session, then qualifying and both races.

It seems logical, especially as he has his experience of the circuit from last year to work with.

[Kiwi3]

I am told Reid hurt his hand? In his quote after the accident he says he cannot grip the steering wheel correctly, so no choice to leave Halliday in the car now anyway.

[strider]

Yes, that's right. The other problem is that they were only going to have one free practice session each and Reid's ended so early.

I read that he went off at Druids, which is surprising because it means he left his braking too late for a fairly simple hairpin. Westfield is the real danger corner, because it's high speed with a nasty bump on the apex, so if you go off there it can be messy.

[Suze]

Originally Posted by Kiwi3

I am told Reid hurt his hand? In his quote after the accident he says he cannot grip the steering wheel correctly, so no choice to leave Halliday in the car now anyway.

That's what he was also saying at the track yesterday, it's still pretty swollen up and so Halliday drove.

[spider]

why did Halliday keep switching helmets from the silver and black one, to his illuminous yellow and orange lid?

[Kiwi3]

Just saw the race today. It was nice to see Reid so excited and pleased about Halliday's progress during the race, real team spirit. and nice comments about each other in a post race interview too. I think us NZers are very lucky to have the team that we've got.