13/01/2008
NEWS STORY
Belmayne A1 Team Ireland return from the Christmas break with Adam Carroll ready for the Australasian leg of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport as they head to Taupo, New Zealand for Round 5 next week.
With further points on the board after Adam scored fourth place in the Sprint Race last time out in China, the Irish team now sits 7th in the championship, only nine points off 4th. The series made its debut on the 3.5km Taupo circuit last season and Ireland was quickly on the pace until draftshaft and rear suspension failures ended the Sprint and Feature races respectively. But the rounds marked a huge leap in performance last year and the team will be looking to convert that speed into results this time around.
Since last season circuit alterations made to turn 12 have turned it from a smooth fourth gear corner into a tight left hander, creating another overtaking opportunity and adding to the excitement to kick of 2008. The New Year brings another change to the series as A1GP becomes the first global motorsport body to switch to a 30 per cent biofuel mix, significantly reducing its environmental footprint.
Adam Carroll: "We've had a bit of a break over Christmas so I'm really looking forward to getting back away to the race track. I'm looking forward to visiting both New Zealand and Australia over the coming weeks as I've never been over to that part of the world before. Hopefully we can do a good really job out there and improve from now on to the end of the season, getting some more podiums and scoring a lot more points. We're taking things step at a time but we're always moving forward and I'm feeling really positive about everything. Hopefully we'll start getting the results now to show it. We're going to go and give it everything next weekend and aim to be back on the podium."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "We've had quite a lot of time since the last race to assess where we are with the car and look to move things forward for the next race. Taupo is quite a short circuit with mainly second and third gear corners and has lots of camber change on the circuit. It's really important to get a good set up and I think we can get a solid result this weekend. biofuel is coming in for the next race which will affect engine performance but it will be the same for everyone, so we've just got to go out there and see what the difference actually is. We had the pace at Zhuhai but due to circumstances outside our control the results didn't really come our way so in New Zealand we're looking to get a strong podium finish in both races."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "These next two races in New Zealand and Australia are important in order for us to try and build on the strong points-scoring success of the first four A1GP events of the season and break through into a finishing on the podium again. Zhuhai showed that we are knocking on the door of that breakthrough and, with Adam having had three weekend's experience with the team, I feel we are building some momentum. New Zealand has really embraced A1GP thanks to the enthusiasm of the A1 Team New Zealand management, the support they have received at home and in Taupo itself. I hope Ireland can contribute to making this an exciting weekend - we like taking on the Kiwis in rugby, where they sometimes have been known to do 'ok'; it'll be nice if the Celtic Tiger can show Black Beauty a clean pair of heels on their home turf."