South African Venture Toughest Challenge Yet

Halliday's South African Venture His Toughest Challenge Yet.

New Zealand A1GP racing driver Matt Halliday considers his latest outing in the A1TEAM.NZL car to be one of the most satisfying weekends in his motor racing career. Halliday had not driven the highly popular New Zealand car for several months so had to combat a high pressure environment as well as the usual 'on track' situations on the Durban street circuit.

"It was a good weekend back in the car but it was also mentally tough as I had to perform from the outset which was difficult at first. Fortunately I had a bit more time to work closely with David Sears (Team Manager) and Chris Gorne (Team Engineer) as the earlier rounds I did were a bit rushed owing to my other commitments and we really couldn't take too much from the Beijing round anyway" he explained.

Matt feels he was very unlucky not to get pole position in qualifying despite setting fastest times in two of the four segments. However, the positive aspect was still achieving a front row grid position which confirmed the driver-engineer relationship was working well. Although he admits to being cautious on both race starts there were no illusions that his job was to get valuable points on the board. Finishing 2nd on points aggregate for the round, from two 3rd placings, was rewarding on a tough circuit under tough conditions.

"It was frustrating being out of the car for so long which created more pressure when I got back in. I'm now really looking forward to my next opportunity because I know how good this team is and I'll be working in a more relaxed personal environment. We've shown what we're capable of and I know there is more to come yet" he declared.

On returning from South Africa, Halliday immediately traveled to Timaru to score a double victory in Round 5 of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup to take the overall points lead with only two rounds remaining. Driving his Giltrap Prestige / Karcher / ICS sponsored Porsche GT3 he has been the dominant driver of the series to date with eight race wins to his credit.

Kevin Lancaster
HH Media

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Visit: www.matthalliday.com

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