New Zealand racing driver Matt Halliday will return to more familiar surroundings this coming weekend when he contests Round 6 of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. With the two most difficult and unpredictable rounds of the championship (Monaco and Valencia) now behind him, the Californian based Kiwi star is thrilled about returning to Great Britain’s historic Silverstone circuit where his race will be a support event to the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Since the last Porsche Supercup outing, Halliday has been conducted a day of testing on the Hockenheim short circuit (Germany) where the Giltrap Racing Porsche 911 GT3 was tested with varying set-ups. The aim of last Thursday’s test was to gather as much information on the new Michelin tyre being used this season in order to give Halliday more opportunity, particularly in qualifying.
The team has found the new tyre compound difficult to extract the maximum performance from but now feel they have established some good data which could prove advantageous at Silverstone and the following rounds. Halliday admits that with little testing, racing has been difficult as a different approach is required in both car set-up and driving style:
“We finished 5th at Silverstone last year so I’m really looking forward to getting back to what is a fantastic event. Even though we will be on a very different circuit layout this year I’m excited to take the positives we learnt from our Hockenheim test last week. Hopefully we can get on top of the issues we have been having trying to get the most out of the tyres especially in qualifying” he explained from London earlier today.
Richard Giltrap is expecting improved results from the Giltrap Group 997 GT3 this weekend as well: “as with many classes, track time is important to get under your belt, and particularly with a new model car like this one. We expect Matt to be able to lift his game this weekend. A fast-flowing track like Silverstone should work well for Matt, and he has proved in the past that he can qualify up near the front here"
