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DTM Debut For Adam Carroll Q&A with Team Futurecom-TME Driver |
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Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
British driver Adam Carroll makes his debut this weekend in one of the toughest motor sport championships in the world – DTM. The 24 year old from Portadown in Northern Ireland, heads to Hockenheim in Germany where over 100,000 people will watch the opening round of the series.
Adam will be racing in the 2005 Audi A4 in the colours of sponsor Ethos Organics and Castrol-Edge.
Adam has won races in every series in which he has competed. Most recently in GP2 with three wins coming at some of toughest circuits in the world; Imola, Monaco and Spa. In 2005 he was part of the BAR (now Honda F1) Young Driver programme, testing the F1 car successfully on a number of occasions.
Here are some of his thoughts before he travels to Germany…
Q: What have you been doing since the end of the GP2 season and how did DTM come about?
AC:
I can’t believe it but it has been eight months since my last race! GP2
finished at the beginning of September although I have driven plenty of
cars since then. I took four weeks off from training and got hard back
into it when we started looking at Champ Car. I went to the Champ Car
races in the US and Australia before being announced as the reserve
driver for RuSPORT in Mexico at the last round of the season. I also
had several successful tests with RuSPORT and Forsythe Championship
Racing too. Then in late December I got a phone call from Dr Colin
Kolles who asked if I’d be interested in DTM. The tests went well and
here I am!
Q: Why did you decide to go to DTM?
AC: I had
done two years in GP2 and unless you are with a top team then it is
completely pointless. GP2 is a feeder series and it takes a lot of
money to be in a position to win races. It is no secret that I have
always struggled for budget. DTM is a professional series with
manufacturers in it and I am happy to be part of a competitive, high
profile championship.
Q: How has testing been going?
AC: I
have been happy with how testing has gone. The car has been running
well and I’ve had several days at different circuits.
Q: How different is it driving the DTM Audi to the other cars you’ve raced?
AC:
Apart from the fact this one has a roof the principals are the same
really! When you first get into the car it is strange. You sit really
far back and the vision seems bad with the roof and windscreen
pillars. Also you can’t see your wheels; normally you can see when you
lock-up and can exactly place the edge of the car. It just took a few
laps to get used to it all. The Audi has very good down- force, grip
and brakes well too.
Q: What is the biggest challenge this year?
AC:
I always go out to do the best possible job and give 100% with the team
and equipment that I have. We want to beat the other 2005 cars and if
everything goes well then I think we could give the 2006 cars a
surprise some days too.
Q: There are other British drivers in the field, what do you know of your competitors?
AC:
I have actually raced against eight other people in DTM right from the
age of 13 in go karts, to GP2 last year. I raced against Gary Paffett
when I was 13, I had others as competitors in F3 and I raced against
Alex Premat in GP2 for the past two years.
Q: What does it mean to be associated with a manufacturer like Audi?
AC:
Audi has always been an innovator in world motor sport, from the
Quattro in rallying to the diesel winning at Le Mans, so I’m proud to
be associated with them. Even as a child I always loved the make and
now to race one is great.
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