Halliday eyes Champ Car

Auckland racing driver Matt Halliday is heading to the United States for an official two-day test with top Champ Car team Mi-Jack Conquest Racing. The test is scheduled to take place at the historic Sebring circuit in Florida on February 4 and 5. Halliday raced for Conquest in the 2001 Indy Lights Championship in which he finished sixth overall despite contesting only nine of the 12 races. He was subsequently injured in an oval race in the US but came back to compete in the Renault V6 championship in Europe, where he had an impressive podium finish in a support race to the Monaco Grand Prix. For the past two seasons he has been a front-runner in the Porsche GT3 series on his home circuits. Halliday has been negotiating the test over the past 18 months and hopes a successful performance can lead to a fulltime seat in the Champ Car races, which are contested in the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia. He has begun the search for sponsorship in time for the first race at Long Beach on April 10. New Zealand Herald