A1GP: Jonny the ace in the pack

In the world of professional poker, it's all-important to know when to lay down the cards and when to fold them.

Yesterday's qualifying of the A1GP was a game of high-stakes poker. With dust being blown across the track at Taupo, none of the big names were prepared to head out onto a dirty track and risk running off the road. But it was a dangerous game to play.

In the first 15-minute qualifying session, no one emerged until there were just six minutes remaining.

But as the cars rolled into the garages after an hour of drama, Jonny Reid held most of the aces.

The 24-year-old Kiwi driver will, crucially, start today's sprint race from pole, while he will start from fifth in the 70-minute feature race.

With the same number of points on offer for both races, Reid's performance in sprint qualifying was significant. There are few passing lanes at Taupo and if he can keep Black Beauty ahead at turn one after the rolling start, he has a good chance of claiming an historic win on home soil.

"I'm very confident about the race tomorrow. I have the home support and I really want to win this one," said Reid, who finished third in both races at Taupo last year.

"At least we have pole for the sprint. We need to be up the front and for the feature we can work on it because it is a much, much longer race and there's a strategy involved.

"There are also two mandatory pits stops, which can change the complexion of a race in a second."

Reid was invariably the last on the track for each of the four sessions and the crowd rose to their feet as he posted the fastest time for the sprint race.

"It was a fantastic feeling to see everyone standing in the grandstand," he said. "I had no radio contact so I didn't know what had happened.

"I was hoping it was at least a front rower. It was a very clean lap, not many mistakes."

The day could have ended so much better. He was fastest after the first session for the feature race but slipped to fifth after being caught in traffic on his final lap.

Close rivals France, who go into today's racing second but only one point ahead of New Zealand, are on pole, with Germany second and championship leaders Switzerland third. Crucially, though, the Swiss could only qualify 11th for the sprint race.

Unfortunately, the strong winds and dust that marred last year's racing were back. Lebanon was the first team to take to the track for the first session and ran off the track twice and failed to register a time. They weren't the only ones, however, and there were more thrills and spills for the crowd than at Water World.

"[The wind and dust] is a big problem because you don't know what to expect at the next corner," German driver Christian Vietoris said.

Reid likened the wind to driving across the Auckland Harbour Bridge on a gusty day.

"When you drive across the Harbour Bridge on a windy day, especially when you're in a van, you can almost swap lanes. That's the same sort of feeling we get in a race car. The wind is a big factor but it's the same for everyone."

The wind is expected to hang around today and rain could move in late in the day.

But the weather isn't the only thing Reid has to deal with. There is, of course, the huge expectations that come with racing at home.

He admits he didn't deal with it well last year but was trying to treat it as just another race this weekend. It might be easier said than done.

"I have got to say it's a very tiring weekend but that doesn't stop me," he said. "You have to go for gold and that's what I will be doing [today]."