Adam Carroll completed his first full day of official testing for A1 Team Ireland at Silverstone by setting the 4th fastest time of the day, only 0.183s slower than pace setters South Africa. The 24 year old from Portadown, fresh from a double podium in last weekend's GP2 races in Turkey, was immediately on the pace around Silverstone's 2.6km International Circuit and set his quickest time in the morning session when he was 2nd quickest with a 1m10.667s. A major set-up change over lunch time saw further work carried out on the car's balance in the afternoon, Carroll emerging confident that the team and car are on the pace.

A1 Team Ireland's initial preparations for the forthcoming A1GP World Cup of Motorsport season started two weeks ago when Carroll undertook a rookie evaluation test, part of the format which A1GP introduced when it was established two years ago. Following that successful outing at Snetterton Circuit, Carroll was invited back to test for the team today.

Adam Carroll: "It was a good day today, we learned a few things including what not to do with the set-up but the car felt good and we are not far away - we are on the pace. I wasn't totally comfortable in the car so we could do with making a new seat, but other than that I'm very happy with where we are at the moment." A1 Team Ireland's participation in the official test continues tomorrow with Ralph Firman returning to the Irish car, the former Jordan F1 driver and current Japanese Super GT Championship leader looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the 550bhp A1GP car.

Mark Kershaw, Team Owner: "We were right on the pace from the word go and Adam was clearly happy with the way the car felt, so this is a good start to our preparations for the new season. There is a good mood in the team and Ralph's clearly keen to jump in the car tomorrow and carry on where Adam has left off. It's great to see Team Ireland up at the sharp end on day one."