KEY POINTS:
The only globally contested motor sporting series that allows drivers to represent their countries comes to Taupo next weekend.
The town will come alive with the sights, sounds and smells of 20 nations vying for the bragging rights of winning the New Zealand round of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport.
Not since the days when the New Zealand Grand Prix was fought out between the likes of Chris Amon, Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill and Bruce McLaren, have we seen such a collection of international drivers at one race meeting. Couple the five overseas Toyota drivers with those of the A1GP and you have 25 top-notch drivers about to duke it out.
Last year Black Beauty's pilot, Jonny Reid, secured a win in the sprint race for the home nation and a fourth in the feature race.
While looking good and showing flashes of good form during the rest of the season, errors and mechanical gremlins wore the team down and New Zealand finished the season second, for the second time.
This year it's been all change with a new car, new rules and new venues. However, it hasn't all been smooth sailing and there have been a few bumps in the road, not only for the series as a whole but also for A1 Team.NZL.
The first round of the series had to be dropped as there were delays in building enough of the new Ferrari-powered cars to allow all the teams to make the grid.
Eighteen cars made the grid for the first race at Zandvoort, seven short of the number of countries who signed up for the series.
There was a rule change as a result of the delay in supplying the new cars to allow for a level playing field as the season wears on.
Teams will now count their best nine event scores from the 10 rounds. Teams dropping their worst result - the points from the sprint and feature races of one event, will calculate the final points standings.
A new young Kiwi, Earl Bamber, was chosen to campaign the black car at the opening round as pre-selected driver Chris Van der Drift had a prior commitment to race in the Formula Master Series that he duly won.
"The new car, including the new chassis, is absolutely amazing with the new Ferrari engine," said Bamber.
Seat holder Colin Giltrap continues to be impressed with the maturity displayed by Bamber and how quickly he came to grips with a new car. Bamber grabbed his opportunity with both hands and roared to a second in the sprint race and third in the feature, leaving New Zealand third in the championship after the first round.
With China next on the dance card, the reins were handed over to Van der Drift. Through no real fault of his own, Van der Drift only managed a seventh and an 11th, due to computer hiccups and New Zealand dropped down to fourth on the table.
Next up was Malaysia and Bamber was back behind the wheel. There was nothing overt in the decision it was just Bamber had been around the Sepang circuit more times than you could poke a stick at. Bamber duly did the business, picking up a third and a sixth enabling New Zealand to climb to joint third with France.
"We had really good pace, especially in clean air with no traffic in front of us. The team did some fantastic pit stops, which really helped us work our way forward in the feature race," Bamber said. Van der Drift got the nod to race Black Beauty next weekend, and again nothing sinister, just more commitment clashes.
Bamber races in Bahrain, January 23-24, in the GP2 Asia championship then heads off to Estoril, Spain, for testing.
"It's going to be good to be racing back home in New Zealand," said Van der Drift.
"Other than kart racing I've only ever done one car race in NZ. For my second ever race it's a big one and with crowd and everything it's going to be great."
Taupo is an important race for the team. I haven't driven on the circuit [Taupo] in its current form, but I know the circuit and have walked it when I was helping Earl [Bamber] in 2006."
Last year was a biggie for 22-year-old Van der Drift, winning the International Formula Masters, after his runner-up finish in 2007. He won six races and stood on the podium 10 times in all.
He left New Zealand at 17 after winning numerous Kiwi KartSport titles and is based in the Netherlands, so wanting to do well at home means a lot to him.
"Representing your country has a different feeling I think than driving in a normal race, especially in New Zealand in front of all those people who'll be supporting Black Beauty," said Van der Drift.
The irony of it all is despite him winning European championships and many years of open wheel racing under his belt, Van der Drift is regarded as an A1 rookie.
While seeming a bit odd, it will help in his familiarisation of the Taupo circuit as he gets to drive in all the sessions.
The weight of an expectant nation sits on his shoulders but that's not the real issue. Points are.
And as the age-old adage states - points means prizes and New Zealand needs maximum points from next weekend's racing to get back to the top of the table, or very near it.
TAUPO A1GP:
Thursday
* Competitors and drivers signing on
* Team managers meeting
* Scrutineering
Friday
* A1GP team managers and drivers briefing
* Practice sessions for rookie and developing nation drivers only
* Practice session for all drivers
Saturday
* Practice sessions
* Driver autograph session
* Qualifying Segment 1 - Sprint race
* Qualifying Segment 2 - Sprint race
* Qualifying Segment 3 - Feature race
* Qualifying Segment 4 - Feature race
* Deadline to nominate drivers for Sprint Race and Feature Race
Sunday
* Sprint race (rolling start and one mandatory pit stop)
* Podium ceremony
* Opening ceremony
* Feature race (standing start including two mandatory pit stops)
* Podium ceremony
