Halliday on top in practice 1
Matt Halliday deservedly topped the times for New Zealand as the A1 Grand Prix drivers tackled a treacherously wet Fundidora Park circuit during their first practice session in Monterrey
On a day that has brought the Mexican city's first rain since October, Halliday stole back his place at the head of the timesheets from Team France's Alexandre Premat with his final lap of the hour-long session.
Halliday was consistently the most committed driver in the misty drizzle that turned an already slippery circuit into something more akin to a surface suited for the Turin Winter Olympics. His final effort of 1:38.067 left him nearly three-tenths up on Premat.
Expectations of continuous red-flag disruptions were only part realised. There were three stoppages, none of which were for serious incidents.
Team Japan's Hayanari Shimoda went off and damaged his car in the opening minutes, while spins for China's Tengyi Jiang and Dutch veteran Jos Verstappen also halted the session.
Audi's new DTM signing Timo Scheider was Halliday's biggest rival for the top spot for much of the session. The German ended up third ahead of Switzerland's Neel Jani.
Former Champ Car and IRL ace Patrick Carpentier made a respectable start to his first A1 GP event with the seventh fastest time, ahead of USA's Bryan Herta and Britain's Robbie Kerr.
The only driver not to appear in this first session was Alvaro Parente, Team Portugal deciding not to risk his car in the miserable conditions.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Matt Halliday New Zealand 1:38.067 27 2. Alexandre Premat France 1:38.300 + 0.233 21 3. Timo Scheider Germany 1:38.969 + 0.902 27 4. Neel Jani Switzerland 1:39.335 + 1.268 21 5. Stephen Simpson South Africa 1:39.803 + 1.736 21 6. Tomas Enge Czech Republic 1:39.827 + 1.760 20 7. Patrick Carpentier Canada 1:39.939 + 1.872 20 8. Bryan Herta USA 1:39.969 + 1.902 20 9. Robbie Kerr Great Britain 1:40.371 + 2.304 20 10. Alex Yoong Malaysia 1:40.810 + 2.743 13 11. Christian Fittipaldi Brazil 1:40.813 + 2.746 23 12. Graham Rahal Lebanon 1:41.081 + 3.014 24 13. Patrick Friesacher Austria 1:41.118 + 3.051 18 14. Jos Verstappen Netherlands 1:41.133 + 3.066 11 15. Ananda Mikola Indonesia 1:41.338 + 3.271 11 16. Enrico Toccacelo Italy 1:41.630 + 3.563 20 17. David Martinez Mexico 1:41.730 + 3.663 23 18. Ralph Firman Ireland 1:41.864 + 3.797 20 19. Marcus Marshall Australia 1:42.408 + 4.341 23 20. Tengyi Jiang China 1:42.997 + 4.930 23 21. Hayanari Shimoda Japan 1:49.737 + 11.670 3 22. Alvaro Parente Portugal No time 0
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