newzealand a1gp

[Kiwi3]

a) Scott Dixon didn't impress Williams. If he did they would have put him back in the car since then, no?

b) In terms of global motorsport, Australian Porsche's are not at all significant. At all!

Surprised that Wade Cunningham has not been mentioned. World Karting champion, and leading the Infiniti Pro series. Seems to be a serious talent.

[promax]

Originally Posted by fordo

since coulthard's name was brought because of his carrera cup results over the ditch (i didn't know the series was such a big deal???) why not add fanga dan from d1nz to the list of drivers. just think of the marketing potential you'd have with a driver named "fanga"

I asked about Coulthard because I thought that any young Kiwi who can beat Jim Richards in a Porsche on more than one occasion and also had a single seater background must have had some talent. I am sorry I was so seriously mistaken.
Just shows what a mistake it was for WPS to sponsor this lack of a big deal and have one of their drivers who just happens to be a kiwi as well, get beaten by a number of drivers who dont get regular drives in the V8s.
Oh well now that I have been enlightened I wont bother watching the Carreras any more and I must let Jim know that the series is no big deal back home when I catch up with him at Indy.
I must tell my boss that we should pull the sponsorship off Jims car too because the series is no big deal.

Your a Klown with a Kapital K pal.[/QUOTE]

oh boo hoo fordo! dry your tears :P i was wrong.. your local carrera cup series is right up there with f1. lets rename new zealand coulthardland after he wins the series.

[carbontub]

Unfortunatley enough for you promax fordo has a point Jimmy is one of motorsports legends and for someone to beat him regular in wet or dry conditions i might add is pretty special and should be considered for a drive in A1GP.
Coulthard ran very well over here in formula renault was as high as 6th or 7th in the championship in a 34 car field in his first year, until he run out of money and had to return back to his home shores. I would certainly put him up against any of the drivers you have mentioned some of whom i have never even heard of.
I think you should be encouraging your own up and coming talent pool in NZ not bagging them as alot of you kiwis seem to do.

[promax]

LOL which kiwi(s) did i bag?

sorry that i don't think the aussie cc series is the be and end all of motor racing i didn't realise it was such an important measuring stick

personally i would've thought a person who is actually racing in a single seater series would be a better choice for consideration.. than say a guy "who can beat jimmy in a porsche" let me see... someone like scott dixon then again you and fordo probably don't rate dixon as he's not currently racing in australia.

[carbontub]

I actually do rate Scott Dixon and would be an ideal choice for A1GP if his contract allowed him to do so. I do feel Scott Dixon has made his bed in motorsport in America now and should proceed with his career over there and let some of your new talent emerge to the top, as you seem to have a few up and coming stars down there that could go further than Scott Dixon has.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Redracer77

Not a big fan of Scott (still bitter about Manning!) but he did win at WG the other week which is a real "drivers" circuit.

The guys at West Surrey Racing did a great job on the car. Lets hope we see them back in British F3 next season. .

I'm also interested in the WSR link, here. I thought i saw Dick Bennetts in their pit at Brands and must admit that i think his outfit has much more to offer the world of motorsport than running some privateer MG touring cars!

I think a separate thread is required here don't you think? Shall we start one Redracer?

As for Dixon, like most guys on here, i do think he's good, but didn't Williams only offer him a test deal and he said no because he wanted a race drive?

But i do think the A1 drive should be for guys who need a break and a bit of exposure, like Halliday got at Brands to showcase what they can do - Scott doesn't fit this bill really...

[mac]

Originally Posted by promax

sorry that i don't think the aussie cc series is the be and end all of motor racing i didn't realise it was such an important measuring stick

personally i would've thought a person who is actually racing in a single seater series would be a better choice for consideration ......

Well Matt Halliday didn't do too bad for a guy who has not had much recent experience outside of Porsches and random V8 drives.

Fabian might have also beaten him in Porsches .......

Of course, that doesn't mean Fabian would be quicker in an A1GP car - wouldn't mind finding out though.

[promax]

stolen from nzmotorsport.co.nz....

Text removed - you yourself have admitted you've stolen it from another website. Feel free to post a direct link if it's relevant to the topic, and you can quote the odd line if that's particular important, but not that much!

[promax]

he's driven more than that in the last few years

http://www.nzmotorsport.co.nz/conten...?pLive&id=5790

[fordo]

No 1 Promax, I myself am a Kiwi and passionately support any kiwi racing over here.
No 2, For a measuring stick as you put it, yes Jim Richards is used as one in the Carrera Cup by a lot of the V8 teams due to his experience and is quite often in conversation with various team owners about the likes of Matt Halliday, Fabian Coulthard etc. Another with a keen interest in Fabian is Larry Perkins who still rates him highly.
I have never bagged Matt Halliday, I just asked what was wrong with Fabian because I was interested that his name hadn't come up when he did have a background in single seaters.

[strider]

It seems that Halliday has a lot more open wheel experience than I knew about, but the question is - will he be racing at Bathurst this weekend or in the A1GP race at Lausitz?

[Kiwi3]

Johnny Reid will be in the car this weekend as Matt Halliday will be at Bathurst.

[strider]

Thanks, that's what I thought.

[thejester]

Anyone visited the NZA1GP website? It looks nice, and has potential, BUT...it's hopelessly out of date already. The latest news is the handover of the car! Nothing on Brands Hatch whatsoever.
I know it's not a huge team, but whoever looks after their web prescence needs a kick up the a$$. As I said in an email to them, no doubt there were more than a few people keen to find out more after Brands, and it's just not a professional look. Hope it improves. Here's the link:

http://www.a1teamnzl.com/

[mctshirt]

Originally Posted by chunterer

But i do think the A1 drive should be for guys who need a break and a bit of exposure, like Halliday got at Brands to showcase what they can do

Yeah right

Personally after watching Halliday bang panels with Baird all summer I didn't rate him....I thought he was prone to the sudden rush of blood to the head. I was very pleasantly surprised when he proved me wrong It was the same impression I gained from the Toyota Racing Series. It was such a delight watching a Timaru blackcurrant farmer outdriving all the bright young things including Wade Cunningham....but look at Wade now! I think it's fair to say there is no shortage of talented drivers in NZ as well as those doing well internationally.

Names to watch out for maybe?
2005 Toyota Racing Series Provisional Points
Position, Driver, Hometown, Final Points
1, Brent Collins, Timaru, 942
2, Andy Knight, Christchurch, 904
3, Daniel Gaunt, Auckland, 874
4, Brendon Hartley, Palmerston Nth, 861
5, Chris Pither, Palmerston Nth, 782
6, Matthew Hamilton, Christchurch, 755
7, Ben Harford, Lower Hutt, 748
8, James Cressey, Auckland, 601
9, Wade Cunningham, Auckland, 589
10, Ben Crighton, Auckland, 563
11, Ken Smith, Auckland, 493
12, Tim Edgell, Auckland, 475
13, Kim Crocker, Tauranga, 468
14, Fiona Hamilton, Christchurch, 398
15, Duane Spurdle, Auckland, 367
16, Mark Munro, Christchurch, 221
17, Andrew Higgins, Auckland, 220
18, Walter Grubmuller, Monaco, 200

For a bit more on the Toyota Series: http://www.toyotaracing.co.nz/default.aspx?pageid=88

[promax]

brent collins the pre 65 and rx7 racer

who said you needed to race a kart in order to be good in a single seater

[jezwold]

Here's Johnny ..... Wooohooo. Again we have a solid performance from a fine kiwi lad. We are now 2nd = on the score card with France.

If anyone has been following the v8supercars in Aussie you will see there is a lot of potential talent still available. I mean look at Murph and Scott Dixon. I would be willing to put money on Scott Dixon getting a drive considering the links between himself and the team. I guess it all depends on his contract with the Target Team in the US.

Keep up the good work lads.

[Armco Bender]

Matt Halliday must have wished he stayed in Germany,his Bathurst car ended in the scrap yard courtesy the Murphy-Ambrose "incident".
Radio report had Dixon driving the car in 2006 sometime,I didnt quite catch the full story.

[thejester]

Website finally updated, too. Well done team nz.

Combination of luck and skill on the weekend. Johnny Reid should be considered the biggest winner in the sprint race first corner incident. 14th to 4th in the first few hundred metres. He raced very well to hold from there though.

[Sirio]

Originally Posted by promax

brent collins the pre 65 and rx7 racer

who said you needed to race a kart in order to be good in a single seater

Brent Collins has raced karts a few seasons at the Christchurch Kart Club and I have been told that his driving improved greatly as a result.

At some resent club events at chch Andy Knight, Matt Hamilton as well as Hamish Cross have all been racing in order to get up to speed for the upcoming Toyota Racing Series.

I really hope that Hamish Cross has a good team behind him this season in the TRS as he is very very good.

[promax]

did brent starting his racing in karts or in pre 65?

[Just Do It!]

It seems that Mr Giltrap has secured the services of Scott Dixon for several rounds, with the official line being that Jonny Reid is staying home. Of course, reality would seem to suggest that Reid Snr has cut the cord on Jonny's funds due to the fact that the whole car setup seems to be sprung around Mega Ego Halliday who seems to get away with blue murder compared to the mechanics' preference of Jonny.

Seems that Mr Giltrap must feel confident that Halliday and Scott Dixon can keep the flow of funds happening. Both Halliday and Reid have been paying all year, but there seems to need to be care taken with future potential talent as the NZ mono posto driver pool is fairly limited, particularly with those who are capable of dancing on that stage.

It's one thing to own a franchise, it's another to supply competitive drivers to it

[Armco Bender]

Dixon is as good as we've got,if he can't do it we all may as well go play cricket....oh we can't do that either it seems.

[Hazza]

Originally Posted by Armco Bender

Dixon is as good as we've got,if he can't do it we all may as well go play cricket....oh we can't do that either it seems.

[Kiwi3]

Crap that's bad news. We have been going so well so far it is a shame to break the momentum. After briefly meeting Johnny Reid at Sepang he seems a very decent bloke as well.