Adam Carroll from Portadown has taken over as the new Belmayne Team Ireland A1 grand prix driver and will race with the Mark Kershaw-owned Irish outfit at the remaining nine rounds of the 2007/08 Championship, writes John Kenny.
The 24-year-old former Honda Formula One test driver replaces Ralph Firman, who raced in the opening round of the series where he finished eighth in the sprint and sixth in the feature race at Zandvoort in Holland last month.
Carroll, who has already tested with Team Ireland at Silverstone last month, will start his career with his new team at the weekend's races at Brno in the Czech Republic, the second round of the ten round championship.
Carroll has just completed the latter part of the International GP2 Championship for Fisichella Racing where he showed terrific form in winning races at both Silverstone and the Hungaroring, and just this week finished the final testing session of the two-day post-season test at Jerez at the top of the standings.
He raced in the 2006 GP2 class as well and had some fine battles with the champion Lewis Hamilton, before the lack of a top class drive forced a move to the DTM series in Germany were he raced in an uncompetitive two-year-old Mercedes.
However, a seat became available at Fisichella Racing in the middle of the 2007 season and Carroll returned with a bang, winning two rounds and taking seventh place overall in the championship standings.
Team Ireland is now in their third season in A1 GP and Carroll becomes their fourth driver after Firman, Michael Devaney and Richard Lyons.
As Carroll is considered a newcomer having not raced in the A1 series before, he can now take part in the rookie sessions on the Friday before qualifying. As a result, the Irish team have dropped John O'Hara from the role as test and reserve driver.
Team Ireland go into this weekend's second round of the 07/08 season with eight points courtesy of Firman's efforts in the first two races in the Netherlands.
It was a steady enough start for the Irish team with Firman at least giving the team a platform with which to work with this season.
Now Carroll comes into the equation and as a proven race winner in other categories, Team Ireland will be hoping that he turns in some good performances this year and follows up the desire of Mark Gallagher, the team principal, for race victories.
Meanwhile, the organisers of the A1GP series have confirmed that it will enter into a six year technology partnership with Ferrari from 2008.
The agreement, announced by A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira, is a landmark deal and the first time in the modern era that Ferrari has agreed to design single-seater chassis outside of F1. The series will be officially ‘powered by Ferrari’ and the Irish team will therefore not only use Ferrari technology but enable its sponsors and fans to become associated with the most famous brand in motor racing.
Mark Kershaw, team owner, said: 'This is a breakthrough deal and to think that Belmayne A1 Team Ireland will be using a Ferrari-designed car and Ferrari engines in only a year’s time is very exciting for us, our sponsors and fans. Ferrari is the most famous name in motor sport, and we look forward to being able to offer our commercial partners an association with this iconic brand through involvement with Ireland’s team in The World Cup of Motorsport.'
Gallagher added: 'When we started out on the A1GP project it was clear that the series’ management had big plans for the future. This announcement shows just how serious they are about making the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport not only unique in terms of its level playing field and nation versus nation concept, but also exciting both for the terrific racing it produces and the technology being used. Team Ireland’s Ferrari-designed car and engines are going to be exciting to watch, and for the team and drivers to work with.'
