Halliday joins Conquest

The 27-year-old Kiwi impressed in a test for Eric Bachelart’s team at Laguna Seca in February, and the Belgian had no hesitation in signing the driver.

"I'm extremely pleased to have Matt come on board for the start of the season," said Bachelart.

"We've worked well together in the past and I look forward to working with him again. When we tested him at the final pre-season open-test with the DP01, his on-track performance definitely demonstrated that he deserves his place in the Champ Car World Series.

Halliday, who has previously won at Monaco in Formula Renault V6s and been a front-runner in the now defunct Indy Lights Series, has not raced full-time since 2005, when he won six races on his way to second in the New Zealand Porsche Cup.

In the intervening period though he has raced in Australian V8 Supercars, the A1 GP Series and won races in the Formula Renault Asia V6 championship.

Halliday said: “I have always had my sights set on Champ Car racing as it is one of the highest profile Championships using the fastest single-seater racing cars in the world,"

"I am also very happy to be doing the Series with Eric Bachelart and Conquest Racing and thank them for giving me the opportunity to test and eventually sign with the team.”