Irish double secures Brands Hatch victory

Adam Carroll and Team Ireland secured the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport at Brands Hatch this weekend, when the team put in superb performances - winning both the Sprint and Feature races to take the 2008-2009 crown.

By Kyle Kock

After their maiden victory in Mexico last year, it was clear the Irish were possible title contenders – and though they suffered retirements from both races, Carroll quickly adapted to the new Ferrari chassis and when on to win five races, with three podium finishes and five fastest laps.

Despite Irish dominance this season, defending champions Switzerland weren’t going down without a fight and ensured that the championship wasn’t spoken for until the very last Feature race.

Salvador Duran of Team Mexico had the upper hand on the Carroll when he moved out into a clear lead on the first lap. When the two leading cars pulled into the pitlane, the pit crews scrambled to get their respective cars out before the other, but Team Ireland’s prowess in the pitlane saw the Celtic Tiger out before anyone else – Duran found himself behind India and USA.

The leaders went on relatively unchanged but a mistake by Team USA’s J.R Hildebrand cost him his first podium in his debut race. Carroll crossed the line seven seconds ahead of India’s Narain Karthikeyan and Duran. Because Portugal only finished fifth and Switzerland in eighth – Carroll only needed to place fifth or to win the championship for Ireland.

“It’s never easy. Sprint races are always quite strange. They're tougher than the Feature race for some reason. I could see Mexico pushing very hard so just let then get on with it and hoped the boys would come up with the goods in the pit stop and they did,” said Carroll after the sprint.

Off the line for the Feature race in pole position, Carroll led the final race of the season with relative ease, but further down the grid Switzerland and Portugal were pushing hard to make it further up the field. After the race was restarted due to a collision between China, USA and India, Carroll went unchallenged to take the win.

Neel Jani of Team Netherlands managed to place in second, while Neel Jani of Team Switzerland tried his utmost to make up for the Sprint race by finishing third. Try as they might, Switzerland could only manage to finish the season as runners-up, with Portugal placed third.

“The team are just unbelievable. They are the best team on the face of this earth in motorsport and I believe that fully. Their commitment is second to none and we are the best in this pit lane. These guys left on Friday night after 29 hours in the pit lane, that says it all,” said a proud Carroll of his team.

“It had been interesting, lots of close battles, especially within the points. I knew it would be hard to win the title here against Ireland because last year they were very quick and we struggled. Ireland did a great job though, they had a fantastic year and if I don’t win, I don’t mind if they win,” admitted Swiss driver Neel Jani.