11/01/2008
NEWS STORY
Teenage motorsport sensation Brendon Hartley will take Black Beauty for a gallop at the upcoming A1GP Taupo.
The 2007 Formula Renault Euro Cup champion will drive in the two 25-minute Rookie Sessions at the World Cup of Motorsport in Taupo tomorrow week before Jonny Reid takes the reins for the rest of the weekend.
Hartley partnered Reid in pre-season testing at Silverstone last August and says he is excited to be back with the New Zealand team. "I really enjoyed my experience at Silverstone, but representing your country at home in a championship round is going up a gear," Hartley said. "I'm keen to help out any way I can and contribute towards New Zealand winning."
The Palmerston North 18-year-old is keen to put the foot down, but promises to act in the best interests of the team, which is currently 3rd in the 22-nation championship - 20 points adrift of Switzerland but just one point behind second-placed France.
"You can't be too stupid. The team is not going to be happy if you crash. I'm expected to generate info and help with the set-up and I've just got to be professional and do the job required."
Now based in Austria as part of the Red Bull Junior Race Team, Hartley is refreshed and raring to go after an off-season break. "Unfortunately I won't be able to rely on home advantage because it's been a while since I've raced in New Zealand, more than a year and a half," he said. "I haven't driven around Taupo because it's so new, so I'll be in the same boat as most of the other rookies."
Wanganui 17-year-old Earl Bamber drove as a rookie in the most recent A1GP rounds in Malaysia and China, but will focus on his Toyota Racing Series commitments in Taupo. Last weekend Bamber become the youngest-ever winner in the 48 year history of the Lady Wigram Trophy and he contests the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild this weekend.
Bamber and Hartley will be able to compare notes on Black Beauty and the Toyota Racing Series. Hartley shot to prominence by winning the very first TRS event at Timaru during the inaugural season of the New Zealand Championship three years ago.
Black Beauty's eight drivers across the three seasons of A1GP have been Matt Halliday, Jonny Reid, Scott Dixon, Wade Cunningham, Chris van der Drift, Daniel Gaunt, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber.
Jonny Reid and Black Beauty, fresh from taking on an Air New Zealand Boeing 777 at Auckland Airport, will be in Palmerston North for this weekend's New Zealand Grand Prix. The A1GP car will peel off some laps of the Manfeild track on both Saturday and Sunday.