Motorsport: Halliday gets drive in Black Beauty for Portugal GP

Matt Halliday will drive for the New Zealand A1 Grand Prix team in round three of the World Cup of Motorsport in Portugal this weekend.

Halliday drove the Black Beauty to third and fourth during last month's inaugural round at Brands Hatch, England, and Jonny Reid was similarly impressive in recording two fourth placings two weeks ago in Germany.

Those results have propelled the New Zealand team to second-equal with France on the championship table, one point behind Brazil.

New Zealand team chief executive Bob McMurray said the team had confidence in both drivers and the choice was difficult.

"The clincher was the extra track time we have this weekend to break in the second car," McMurray said.

"We have two 40-minute warm-up sessions before the two official one-hour practices tomorrow. That negates somewhat Jonny's knowledge of the circuit, which he gained driving Formula 3000 here last year.

"Jonny's also familiar with the Eastern Creek circuit where we're heading in a fortnight for the Australian round, so he's the most likely to drive there."

The New Zealand team have the opportunity to run their second car this weekend but have decided to run the second engine with the chassis used in the first two rounds.

"We've groomed the chassis, and it is a known quantity," McMurray said.

"But it's worth breaking in the new engine and, with the extra warm-up session, we have plenty of time to ensure it is purring."

McMurray said set-up would be all-important at the Estoril circuit, an ex-Formula One track.

"We're very close to the Atlantic Ocean, and sand and wind can be an issue.

"The sand can make the track dirty and gritty, while the wind can affect gear ratios depending on how hard it blows," McMurray said.

Reid said there needed to be compromise in set-up given the 4.36km track had a mixture of tight corners and long sweeping turns, one of which catapulted cars into the lengthy straight at speed.

"You rely heavily on traction from the car, and it's a track that's good for slipstreaming on the long straight," Reid said.

"It's important to watch the gap between you and the car in front, especially coming out of the sweeping corner into the straight. If you're too close you lose the down force on the car and lose speed.

"You have to time the gap and have to be quite clever about getting to the straight well. The power boost button could be more relevant than previously."

Halliday said learning a new circuit, as he did at Brands Hatch in round one, was not an issue.

"You can do it in five seconds," Halliday said.

- NZPA