MOTOR SPORT:TWO CONVINCING race wins for Adam Carroll at Brands Hatch yesterday earned Team Ireland a first major championship title with victory in the A1GP series.
Billed as the world cup of motorsport, 20 national teams are pitted across a global series of races, and yesterday, in the final race of the final weekend of the championship, Carroll took the title at Ireland’s fourth attempt.
Going into the weekend, and after round six, Team Ireland lay two points adrift of title holders Switzerland, though with teams allowed to drop a result at the end of the season, the team effectively had the upper hand.
Despite the technical advantage, however, Carroll still had it all to do. But he took the initiative on Saturday by securing pole position for both the sprint and feature race. Chief rivals Switzerland, by contrast, suffered through two troubled sessions which saw driver Neel Jani only manage eighth on the grid for Sunday morning’s 18-lap sprint, but a threatening fourth for the feature race.
Yesterday morning Carroll (26), from Portadown, gave his team the best possible platform with a comfortable win in the sprint race, despite losing the lead early.
With Mexico’s Salvador Duran alongside on the front row, Carroll made a cautious start, and on the run down to the turn one, unwilling to get involved in a potentially costly tussle, the Team Ireland driver allowed the Mexican to go through.
With Jani struggling further back, Carroll was able to keep pace in second, and during the first pit-stop window managed to gain valuable seconds on the Mexican and emerged with his lead restored. A smooth run to the flag followed, leaving the Irishman ideally placed for the final.
“These sprint races are nearly tougher than feature races,” said Carroll. “They’re never comfortable and you don’t get much of a break in them, so it’s a relief to get that over with a win.
“The pit stop was great,” he added. “I was hoping the boys were going to do that. I could see Mexico was pushing hard so I just let them get on with it and hoped that the crew would come up with the goods, and they did.”
The morning victory left Carroll eight points clear of Jani, the Swiss all weekend hampered by set-up problems.
But any challenge evaporated within seconds of the start as Carroll fended off a challenge from Monaco’s Clivio Piccione and held his lead into the first turn. It was the only challenge suffered over the remaining 49 laps.
“That was fantastic,” said Carroll. “I always knew this was someday going to to come, and I knew I was ready to do the job, so I’m ecstatic really. I’d like to thank the team for giving me the opportunity to prove what I can really do. I think I cried for most of the last laps. Actually, I really did cry on the in-lap. It is such a relief to get it done.”
Meanwhile, Tim McNulty scored a surprise victory in the Rally of the Lakes. This was the Meathman’s second win on the Killarney-based international rally.