05/10/2006
NEWS STORY
A1 Team Ireland's campaign in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has been given a major boost following the news that RTÉ Two will broadcast live coverage of Sunday's second round of the series in Brno, Czech Republic commencing at 13.55. In a deal made possible by the efforts of the A1GP organizers and cooperation of Sky Sports, which owns the exclusive rights to the series in the UK and Ireland, RTÉ will also broadcast the South African round of the World Cup of Motorsport live on February 25th, 2007. Remaining rounds of the 12-race series will be shown as delayed broadcasts.
Sunday's event marks the first occasion on which A1GP has been broadcast live on terrestrial television in Ireland and the one hour twenty five minute programme will be hosted by RTÉ's motorsport broadcaster Peter Collins, previously known for his commentaries in both Formula One and more recently on MotoGP. Joining Collins in the commentary box will be A1 Team Ireland's reserve driver John O'Hara, the Kildare driver who races the team's grand prix car in Friday's 'rookie' practice session and acts as team mate to Ireland's main race driver Michael Devaney.
"This marks a major stepping stone for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and for the team's supporters throughout Ireland," said Mark Gallagher, Team Principal of A1 Team Ireland. "Thanks to the fantastic cooperation of Richard Dorfman at A1GP and Sky Sports in particular this agreement will enable Irish sports fans to follow the fortunes of the national team in the World Cup of Motorsport even more closely. RTÉ has been extremely supportive of A1GP since the outset, showing highlights of the majority of last year's races, so to have live coverage granted to us for both the Czech and South African races is a major breakthrough in this, our second season of competition in the World Cup of Motorsport."