Dublin could be on the verge of hosting an A1 Grand Prix race next season on the back of Ireland's success in winning the 2008/09 championship, writes RTÉ Sport’s John Kenny.
Adam Carroll took Ireland to victory with a win in both races of the final round at Brands Hatch and now A1 are looking to capitalise on that success by bringing a round to Ireland next season.
Formula 1 design company Tilke, which is owned by Herman Tilke, a former Touring car driver, and Tony Teixeira, who runs the championship, are in Dublin to talk to interested parties.
Should talks be successful, an event could be staged in Dublin, possibly this year, but more likely in 2010.
Tilke's company is already behind some of the major circuits in Formula One including designing new tracks at Bahrain, Malaysia and Singapore.
The duo have also looked at Ireland’s success in hosting two rounds of the World Rally Championship and are keen to bring an A1 street race to the Irish capital with an area around the IFSC earmarked as a possible venue.
The idea of Ireland hosting a round was mooted three years ago by Mark Kershaw, the former franchise owner of the Irish A1 Grand Prix team who relinquished ownership to Teddy Yip Jnr last season.
The A1 championship have run street races before, notably in Durban, South Africa and Beijing, China and will start next season on the streets of the Gold Coast in Australia, replacing the American Indy Car series.
Tilke and Texteria are due to spend the day in Dublin speaking to, amongst others, the Dublin Chambers of Commerce before hosting a briefing in the afternoon.
A1 Grand Prix, dubbed the 'World Cup of Motorsport' is perhaps the leading, one make, single seater racing championship in the world.
The Phoenix Park is hosting Irish club races in August this year and Dundalk also hosted a street race event back in 1989.
The A1 Grand Prix cars and engines are both supplied by Ferrari and were taken over by Teixeira, a South African businessman, who is the series CEO.
Teixeira is also looking at setting up his own Formula One team after considering bids for Spyker, Scuderia Toro Rosso and Honda Racing in the past two years.
The Poruguese born Teixeira said that the main reason why he wants an F1 team is to secure a transition of all A1 GP winners into Formula One.
The A1 series would become Formula 1's second feeder series, alongside the GP2 championship.
