Highly experienced design and race engineer Gerry Hughes has joined A1 Team Ireland with immediate effect, and will act as Technical Director for Ireland's entry.

Hughes, 39, brings with him vast experience gained during the 1990's whilst working for organizations including Lola Cars, Williams Touring Car Engineering and Prodrive. For the last nine consecutive seasons he has worked in Formula One, initially with three- year stints at both Jaguar Racing, where he worked with Eddie Irvine, and Jordan Grand Prix. Following a year at Red Bull Racing he spent three seasons with the Super Aguri F1 team where he held the positions of Chief Race Engineer and Head of R&D.

"I am very pleased to join A1 Team Ireland's operating team, Status Grand Prix Ltd, as it aims to build on the success achieved last season and at an important time in terms of the introduction of the new A1GP car," said Hughes. "Adam Carroll's victory in the A1GP, Mexico City, in March showed how far the team has come in its short history and we are certainly going to approach the new season with a focus on winning more races and targeting the World Cup of Motorsport title for Ireland."

The Team Ireland technical team remains fundamentally unchanged since last season with Sporting Manager Dave O'Neill leading the team into his fourth A1GP campaign, the original team members from 2005 also including Number 1 Mechanic Rob Jones reporting to Chief Mechanic Stewart Cox.

"The arrival of Gerry Hughes as the new Technical Director of A1 Team Ireland is a significant step forward for us as he has significant, up-to-date experience at the very highest levels of the sport," said Team Principal Mark Gallagher. "Last year we secured a top six finish for Ireland in the A1GP series, and for Season Four we want to improve on that and achieve even more consistent results. The new car is more complex, faster and at the beginning of its development, so Gerry is ideally suited to this key role."