A1 GP Brands Hatch - Double Victory For Carroll Seals Title For Team Ireland

Adam Carroll converted his two Saturday pole positions and Brands Hatch lap record into two victories today at the same time clinching the A1 GP 08/09 Championship for Team Ireland.

In the morning sprint race, Carroll had initially lost the lead to Team Mexico's Salvador Duran off the start but was later able to regain the lead following his mandatory pit stop.

Narain Karthikeyan for Team India who had started from seventh on the grid made up ground to evenutally take second place. Duran took a well deserved third step of the podium.

Team New Zealand's Earl Bamber had a coming together with the Team Lebanon car at Paddock Hill Bend putting them both out of the race.

The final results of the sprint race were as follows -

1. Ireland (Adam Carroll), 16 laps

2. India (Narain Karthikeyan), +7.230s

3. Mexico (Salvador Duran), +12.340s

4. USA (JR Hildebrand), +12.689s

5. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque), +13.018s

6. Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen), +13.783s

7. Australia (John Martin), +15.208s

8. Switzerland (Neel Jani), +22.220s

9. France (Nicolas Prost), +22.945s

10. Italy (Vitantonio Liuzzi), +27.062s

There was a lot of support for Team Ireland today at Brands Hatch and even the Red Devils showed their goodwill!

In the feature race, Carroll had it sown up from start to finish - a classic lights to flag victory.

Narain Karthikeyan of Team India and Frankie Cheng of Team China crashed off at Paddock Hill Bend at the start of the race.

Jeroen Bleekemolen of Team Netherlands, who had a very good weekend overall, finished the race in second place with Neel Jani of Team Switzerland in third.

Dan Clark for Team GB finished in seventh place after fending of Team Australia's John Martin for a large part of the race.

The final results for the feature race were as follows -

1. Ireland (Adam Carroll), 49 laps

2. Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen), +10.156s

3. Switzerland (Neel Jani), +13.564s

4. Monaco (Clivio Piccione), +14.293s

5. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque), +16.484s

6. Mexico (Salvador Duran), +21.810s

7. Great Britain (Dan Clarke), +23.409s

8. Australia (John Martin), +24.493s

9. Italy (Vitantonio Liuzzi), + l lap

10. France (Nicolas Prost), + 1 lap

L2F junior had an enjoyable but very tiring day and looks forward to more A1 GP action at Brands Hatch in the new season!

A1 GP Brands Hatch - Team Ireland in the Box Seats - Double Pole & Lap Record for Carroll

Team Ireland have put themselves firmly in the box seats to win the A1 GP World Cup of Motorsport title for the 08/09 season following today's qualifying session at Brands Hatch.

Adam Carroll smashed the Brands Hatch lap record to take pole for both the sprint and feature races which will be held on Sunday.

The new Ferrari powered A1 cars are 2-3 seconds per lap faster than the Lola-Zytek A1 cars used in previous seasons.

Team Mexico's Salvador Duran qualified second in the sprint race while Team Monaco put in an excellent performance to take that in the feature race

Team Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen continued his good form qualifying third for both the sprint and feature races despite having an eventfull morning practice session.

Shortly after having set the fastest practice time, he braked too late and went off at Druids. Being a good sport he assisted the marshalls with the recovery of his car - can you imagine an F1 driver doing that?

The top ten qualifying positions for each race are as follows -

Sprint Race qualifying result:

1. Ireland (Adam Carroll), 1m11.615s

2. Mexico (Salvador Duran), +0.038s

3. Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen), +0.377s

4. USA (JR Hildebrand), +0.379s

5. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque), +0.425s

6. New Zealand (Earl Bamber), +0.493s

7. India (Narain Karthikeyan), +0.494s

8. Switzerland (Neel Jani), +0.597s

9. Indonesia (Satrio Hermanto), +1.043s

10. Australia (John Martin), +1.130s

Feature Race qualifying result:

1. Ireland (Adam Carroll), 1m10.902

2. Monaco (Clivio Piccione), +0.183s

3. Netherlands (Jeroen Bleekemolen), +0.244s

4. Switzerland (Neel Jani), +0.436s

5. France (Nicolas Prost), +0.641s

6. New Zealand (Earl Bamber), +0.731s

7. Australia (John Martin), +1.028s

8. China (Congfu Cheng), +1.278s

9. Portugal (Filipe Albuquerque), +1.368s

10. India (Narain Karthikeyan), +1.495s

L2F will be at Brands Hatch for both races on Sunday together with Mrs L2F and L2F junior.