Ireland reclaim A1GP lead in Portugal
Sunday, 12 April 2009Ireland's Adam Carroll capped a fine day by adding a second place finish in the Feature race to his runner-up spot in the Sprint race at the Vodafone A1GP Algarve in Portugal today.
Despite receiving a drive-through penalty early on for a false start, Carroll made a great comeback, which included some slick pit work from the Irish crew, to cross the line in second.
Switzerland's Neel Jani emerged victorious in an action-packed race to claim his tenth series win, more than any other driver in the short history of the sport.
Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque drove a fantastic race to come through from seventh on the grid to take the final podium position in front of the delighted home fans.
Earlier in the day, Carroll finished second in the opening Sprint race and also claimed a point for fastest lap.
The race was won by Robert Doornbos, who took his maiden victory for A1 Team Netherlands, while Portugal were third with Filipe Albuquerque behind the wheel.
Doornbos took the lead from Italian pole-sitter Vitantonio Liuzzi into the first corner and had built up a healthy lead before a crash involving Felipe Guimarães' Brazilian car and South Africa's Adrian Zaugg brought out the red flags.
Meanwhile, Eugene Donnelly has won the Circuit of Ireland Rally for the second time after steering his Skoda home 48 seconds ahead of the Subaru of Eamonn Boland, with Gareth McHale a further 16 seconds back in third in a Ford Focus.
