09/10/2007
NEWS STORY
Brno in the Czech Republic is the setting for round two of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and, with new signing Adam Carroll set to make his debut, Belmayne A1 Team Ireland is aiming high for the weekend. Zandvoort saw the team score eight championship points, with Ralph Firman at the wheel, equaling the tally from the whole of last season, as well as achieving the fastest pit stop and third fastest lap time in the Feature Race.
As a newcomer to the series Adam Carroll will also be eligible for the Friday Rookie sessions, giving the 24 year old from Portadown valuable extra time to familiarise himself with the circuit and set the car up for Saturday's qualifying runs. With five GP2 victories to his name Adam is determined to emulate this level of success in A1GP.
With a series of long, fast straights leading into sharp corners the 5.40km Automotodrom Brno presents plenty of scope for overtaking maneuvers, as well as a technical challenge for teams and drivers. Last seasons races saw Team Malaysia take a double victory, though not without controversy as Alex Yoong clashed with Canada's James Hinchcliffe in the Feature Race when the youngster appeared to be on course to take victory in just his second A1GP event.
Adam Carroll: "I'm really looking forward to representing Ireland in my first A1GP race weekend, with the team we have I've no doubt that we'll be able to put in a strong performance. We've already got points from round one and we'll be aiming to add to that and get amongst the pace setters to make sure that we're in the championship battle."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "We've established a good starting point for the season at Zandvoort and with Adam now on board I'm looking forward to building a strong working relationship with him to help us move forward. Having scored points in the Netherlands the aim now is to challenge for a podium and build the momentum towards becoming race winners. Brno is quite hard on tyres and has a pretty technical final sector, I'm confident we'll achieve a set-up that will give Adam a car he can really attack with."
Mark Kershaw, Team Owner: "Last season we went into races hoping to score points, after our performance in Zandvoort I would say that points are our minimum expectation now. We've certainly moved up a level and with Adam on board we're confident that we can start challenging for podiums, and hopefully be in a position to add Ireland to the list of nations who have scored victories in A1GP in the not too distant future, it's never easy, but we are pushing hard."
TV3 will be broadcasting all the race action live with coverage commencing at 13:55 on Sunday 14th.