Motorsport: Kiwi team will only improve says Amon

Formula One motor racing legend Chris Amon is not surprised at how well New Zealand are going in the A1 grand prix of nations World Cup series, and predicts they will only get better.

Driver Jonny Reid guided Black Beauty to two fourth placings in the second round in Germany yesterday, earning 14 points to take second overall and close the gap on championship leaders Brazil to one point.

Two weeks ago, New Zealand finished third overall in the opener at Brands Hatch, England, with Matt Halliday collecting 15 points from third and fourth placings.

Reid overcame a host of pre-race problems in both the 18-lap sprint and the 35-lap feature race, earning the team $US110,000 ($159,790) in prize money.

Nicholas Lapierre won both races to put France equal second with New Zealand.

Brazil's Nelson Piquet jnr scored a third place in the sprint but was shunted out in the feature race in a clash with Japan down the front straight.

Reid qualified only 14th for the first race. Gearbox failure robbed him of a warmup and caused consternation as the team hurried to fix the problem.

"It was an unbelievable comeback," Reid said.

"I'm stoked with the team and the way they changed the gearbox and handled the main race pit stop.

"I had the best start of my career in the sprint race and while I'm disappointed I didn't get a podium finish, especially when I had a real sniff in the feature race, this was my first taste of A1 and I had a lot to learn."

Amon said from his home in Kinloch, near Taupo, he was hugely impressed with New Zealand's effort.

New Zealand are the only team to have finished all four races in the series so far and, leaving the drivers aside, probably had one of the strongest teams going, Amon said.

"In technical knowledge, experience in race engineering, in Bob McMurray and West Surrey Racing are a really strong combination," Amon said. "We are going very well and will get better when we get tracks our drivers are familiar with."

He thought that at a certain point, New Zealand would have to make the decision to go with just one driver.

"I know that's not what it's meant to be about but I'm pretty sure that some of the front running ones so far will stick with one driver and New Zealand will have to do the same."

Reid drove superbly to hold off German Timo Scheider, the driver with the greatest knowledge of the EuroSpeedway track in Lausitz, near Berlin, and score the first seven points of the day's 14-point haul.

There was drama on the start line in the feature race. Brazil had mechanics still on the track when it was time to start and, in the confusion, Reid aborted his start.

The race re-started with the original grid, but was reduced by one lap.

Reid did not get a good start and was eighth into the first corner.

But he avoided trouble and drove consistently throughout, moving up the field as botched pitstops and crashes took their toll on other teams.

The next round is in Portugal in two weeks.

Standings

1. Brazil 30pts

2. New Zealand, France 29

4. Switzerland 17

5. Australia, Mexico 16

- NZPA