A1 Team Ireland driver Adam Carroll has been honoured by Ireland's motorsport media with their Manley Award for International Driver of the Year yesterday.

Carroll's race performances, which currently place A1 Team Ireland at the head of the championship points table in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, saw his name added to the prestigious trophy which has been won in the past by F1 drivers Eddie Irvine and Martin Donnelly in the past.

The award comes as Carroll prepares for this weekend's Race of Champions in Wembley where he and another former Manley award winner Gareth MacHale will compete for Ireland against drivers including seven-times Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and five-times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

"It was a nice surprise," said Carroll of his award win. I wasn't expecting it and it's an honour to see my name included on the trophy alongside so many great names from Ireland's motorsport past. It's been a great start to the season for us and, while the job is far from finished, it's nice to be receiving recognition for our achievements.

"Now I'm looking forward to Wembley. I'm going to give it my best shot. It'll be a blast to race alongside the likes of Schumacher and Loeb and we'll certainly be putting it up to them."