Team NZL - who should drive?

Kiwi3 · 26 Nov 2006, 02:39 (Ref:1775016)

Following the success of the GBR thread I thought I'd start another one!

With Jonny Reid qualifying on the front row on two successive occasions he really seems to be on form. Matt Halliday by comparison seems to often be a midfield runner.

In my opinion Reid should be first choice, it seems to be the case this weekend with Halliday back in NZ competing in a domestic Porsche series. Not sure if this is due to Halliday choosing the Porsche's (he might get paid to drive them vs pay to drive A1?) or if the team has chosen Reid.

For now Reid seems eligible for the rookie sessions (cannot remember how that works!), I hope Wade Cunningham gets a second chance following his single lap in Beijing, as a World karting and Indy Pro Series champion he deserves it.

Armco Bender · 26 Nov 2006, 07:47 (Ref:1775072)

Not hard,Jonny's had 2 drives for 2 front rows.Matt needs a holiday.

Msport 33 · 26 Nov 2006, 09:47 (Ref:1775124)

Hi fellas
This is my first post and thought i would get in on the action after watching the race this morning. I thought that Reid was very average in the Feature race, considering that they share data with Germany, who dominated. I was hoping for a better result from Jonny as he has raced alot in the wet this year in Japan F3.

Razor · 26 Nov 2006, 10:09 (Ref:1775134)

One name: Greg Murphy.

Armco Bender · 26 Nov 2006, 18:13 (Ref:1775364)

Murph's getting a bit long in the tooth,been awhile since he pedalled an open wheeler.
Would be good to see Scott Dixon have a drive but that appears never to be likely.

strider · 26 Nov 2006, 22:32 (Ref:1775484)

As I tried to explain in the GBR thread, it's very difficult to introduce a completely fresh driver at this point in the season. There are no extra opportunities to test, so I'd suggest sticking with Jonny Reid. He may have been disappointing in the feature race today, but overall he's been more impressive than Matt Halliday.

Kiwi3 · 27 Nov 2006, 05:02 (Ref:1775616)

Alex Yoong reported that he went backwards in the first half of the race due to tyre pressures not being what was needed. I wonder if NZ had a similar problem? Seems odd that Reid faded that badly after such a good qualifying.

Armco Bender · 27 Nov 2006, 07:08 (Ref:1775648)

They set the Kiwi car up gambling on a dry track,as it rained the car was very skitish,Jonny did well to keep it on the track.
The first race he drove with bent suspension.Hopefully they stick with him,he appears to be a great talent.

blew by u · 29 Nov 2006, 22:32 (Ref:1778138)

jonny reid has the momentum ive heard through the grape vine the he is in the car for the rest of the season.

stradlin21 · 29 Nov 2006, 23:24 (Ref:1778173)

get Cunningham in the car!

he nearly won the Indy Pro Series this season despite missing some races!

looks like a real good prospect

Kiwi3 · 30 Nov 2006, 03:19 (Ref:1778246)

It is good news if Reid is in the car for the rest of the season.

Cunningham did win the Indy Pro series last year, I think he was a fair way off the points total of the champion this year.

Raglanparade · 30 Nov 2006, 09:08 (Ref:1778358)

Whats Chris Amon doing these days?? probably the best ever NZ open wheel racer...

In all seriousness, id love to see Scott Dixon do it, but i wonder if his IRL contracts forbid him ??

Kiwi3 · 30 Nov 2006, 10:13 (Ref:1778414)

Dixon did one practice session in Dubai last year so seemed keen, from reading media reports it seemed Chip Ganassi was keen to see him concentrate on IRL pre season testing however. It was mentioned at the beginning of this season that Dixon might still get involved, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

**chunterer** · 1 Dec 2006, 09:23 (Ref:1779319)

Thought I read something about Chris Van Der Drift saying during FR3.5 testing yesterday that he's going out to Sentul to drive A1 in some capacity?

Anyone know any more about this as it'll be interesting to see how he goes.

Msport 33 · 1 Dec 2006, 09:55 (Ref:1779344)

Didnt Vander Drift test well at the official A1gp Silverstone test. I think he would go well. What do you think his plans will be for next season, surely not another season in FRenault 2.0

**chunterer** · 1 Dec 2006, 10:02 (Ref:1779353)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Msport 33

Didnt Vander Drift test well at the official A1gp Silverstone test. I think he would go well. What do you think his plans will be for next season, surely not another season in FRenault 2.0

Well he's been testing both FR 3.5 and GP2 but I suspect he'll be doing the former money permitting..

He looks to be a good prospect?

Kiwi3 · 1 Dec 2006, 10:27 (Ref:1779373)

Presume he will be doing the rookie session then. Reid must almost be due to be inelligible as he did some races last season as well.

Timu · 1 Dec 2006, 10:52 (Ref:1779387)

Reid is doing a bloody good job this year. Despite his run-ins with his German teammate.

lt will be this yeare interesting to see who gets the gig for the Taupo event in January. Reid is the form man, but Halliady enjoys a larger identity on the local scene... Another name id throw in th mix at some stage would be Brendon Hartley, he would be quick but his commitments with the red bull team would make it difficult to get a drive...

Kiwi3 · 2 Dec 2006, 08:36 (Ref:1780004)

Red Bull are allowing Neel Jani and Adrian Zaugg to drive, so no reason why they should prevent Hartley. He might be too young and inexperienced still though?

Hopefully the team will go with the form driver rather than who is the bigger name for the Taupo round. If they wanted the biggest name that would be Dixon anyway.

Armco Bender · 10 Dec 2006, 17:58 (Ref:1786941)

Not a hard choice now.Well done Jonny.

Mr Jinxx · 12 Dec 2006, 13:25 (Ref:1788944)

Jonny did great last weekend! He's a talented driver, a great guy, and although I believe his father did have some financial link with the team - so it may be academic about getting another driver now - I don't think he's that well-funded that he couldn't use the kudos.

By the same token, Wade Cunningham is also a talented driver and NZ could do worse than give him a few shots at it. He was world karting champion (the title that eluded Senna) so he has pedigree as well! And he's quick on the road courses in Indy Pro, so he's proved he can drive. I doubt he'd disappoint.

Kiwi3 · 13 Dec 2006, 06:28 (Ref:1789577)

I also hope Wade Cunningham gets a chance. He deserves a lot more than half a lap in Beijing!

carbontub · 15 Dec 2006, 00:09 (Ref:1791004)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Thought I read something about Chris Van Der Drift saying during FR3.5 testing yesterday that he's going out to Sentul to drive A1 in some capacity?

Anyone know any more about this as it'll be interesting to see how he goes.

He certainly did that, he stacked it. I dont think he did one full lap.

Kiwi3 · 15 Dec 2006, 03:54 (Ref:1791078)

he's welcome to come to every rookie session and crash it every time as long as we go on to win both races on Sunday.

Kiwi3 · 18 Dec 2006, 04:55 (Ref:1793259)

Wade Cunningham and Jonny Reid will be driving in Taupo.

Quite fitting I think. NZ's karting World Champion and the hero from Sentul driving in front of what hopefully will be a huge home crowd.

there is an article profiling Reid at the below location by the way:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/event/stor...ectid=10415602

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Which Team is hard to drive for?	OZ_HCR32	Formula One	19	19 Jul 2006 17:09
NZL - Why isn't Johnny Reid driving?	Kiwi3	A1GP	5	5 Feb 2006 03:04
What team would you drive for in FFord and why?	slipangle	National & International Single Seaters	82	27 Sep 2002 12:52