KEY POINTS:
A1GP cars have on-board computers, paddle gearbox controls and highly-tuned motors.
Yesterday mechanic Mark Wood used non-mechanical equipment to ensure Black Beauty would be at its best for today's racing. The New Zealand flag over the engine was to keep out the dust.
It didn't look out of
place.
The cosmopolitan nature of the series sets it apart from Formula 1 and is its greatest asset.
Wood has experienced life at the end of a wrench at both Formula 1 and A1GP. He was No 2 for the McLaren F1 team between 2000 and 2002 when Mika Haakinen and David Coulthard slipped in behind the wheel and has been with the New Zealand team for 18 months.
"Normally the mechanic/driver relationship is pretty good," Wood says. "In the bigger teams, like Formula 1, it's hard to get to know the drivers. Normally they just turn up, say good morning, jump in the car and off he goes. A1 is more relaxed. We see Jonny [Reid] all the time. He's pretty chilled."
One reason Reid is so relaxed is that he has full confidence in his mechanics. He knows, and Wood is patently aware, that one mistake could end in a number of bent parts.
"There's a lot of trust involved," he says. "I think about it a lot because it could make or break the day. It could put Jonny in the wall."
Race weekends mean long hours for everyone but few work longer than mechanics. Wood and the rest of the New Zealand mechanics left for the track at 7am yesterday and wouldn't have returned to their hotel until about 10pm.
It starts again at 7 this morning before a series of pit stop practices.
In the actual racing, Wood can be found changing one of the front wheels in less than 10 seconds.
"That's pretty exciting, it's the best bit of the weekend," he says.
"The adrenaline is running but you have to stay pretty calm. In the end it just becomes second nature. It's almost robotic.
"You focus on the wheel nut, getting the gun on the wheel nut and keep going through the routine.
"After the first few laps, we don't tend to watch that much. Watching them go around every lap, can be a bit boring and you want to get a breather, have some lunch. There are other days when you don't have time to do that.
"It's a pretty exciting life, although it's probably not as exciting and glamorous as people think because when you travel overseas you only ever see the track and hotel rooms. But it's pretty good."
It will be a whole lot better if the New Zealand flag is flying on the podium today rather than draped over an engine.