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NZ Confident after A1GP testing |
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Wednesday, 29 August 2007 |
The New Zealand team is confident they will hit the ground running in season three of the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport after promising performances in the two-day pre-season testing session at Silverstone in England.
Black Beauty, with Brendon Hartley at the wheel, roared to the 4th fastest time in the morning session on day two and Jonny Reid posted the third fastest time of the afternoon session, just 0.069 seconds off the lead, leaving the team's head of engineering, David Sears, beaming.
"Considering Jonny hasn't been racing since April, to come halfway around the world and be on the pace is extremely encouraging and Brendon demonstrated his enormous potential," Sears said.
"I feel very confident that Black Beauty will be at the forefront when the season starts in just over a month."
Reid said nothing short of being in front is acceptable for him, but "all in all it has been a very successful first test".
"The circuit was really slippery with oil on half the track and you had to concentrate unbelievably hard to post good times," Reid said.
"The time difference at the end of the day is just one touch of the brake and I'm really pleased we're so close. We'll all be much better for this shakedown."
The morning session was notable for the glimpse of Hartley's undoubted talent.
The 17-year-old, who had his first stint in an A1GP car yesterday less than a fortnight after having his appendix out, predicted a top five place on new tyres this morning and achieved that aim on his very first lap with new rubber. His time of 1:10:618 - New Zealand's fastest time of the two days - was just 0.613 of a second behind first placed Germany.
Unfortunately he pushed too hard at the start of the next lap, touched a ripple strip and shot into an access road. Without the room to turn around he was towed back to the garage and had to sit out the remainder of the session while the pit crew accessed the car for potential damage and then decided to give Jonny Reid more time in the driving seat.
Hartley's time of 1:10:618 ended up being the 4th fastest time of the session and was 0.4 seconds quicker than Black Beauty's best time on day one.
"I have mixed emotions," Hartley said. "You have to be hard on yourself and self-critical in this sport or you don't improve, but, hey, P4 (fourth fastest) isn't the end of the world."
The New Zealand team, runner-up in last season's championship, is now looking ahead to a second two-day test session at Silverstone in three week's time, their last hit-out before the opening round of season three at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on 30 September.
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