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A1GP prize for Irish award winner Dublin, Ireland, 30th November 2007: Belmayne A1 Team Ireland today announced its support for the nation’s prestigious Dunlop Young Racing Driver of the Year award by awarding an exclusive Rookie test in the A1 Team Ireland car at Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia on 1 February 2008 to the winning driver.

British Formula 3 racer Niall Breen, from Dundalk, Co. Louth, Formula Ford racer Peter Dempsey from Ashbourne, Meath and Formula BMW Germany racer Niall Quinn from Dunboyne, Meath, have been short-listed for Irish motorsport’s top award, which also carries with it a total prize fund of €50,000 and thelegendary Sexon Trophy.

The winner will be unveiled at Motorsport Ireland’s Dunlop Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards lunch in Dublin on December 4th. Belmayne A1 Team Ireland has come on board to help the most promising Irish talent to gain a vital foothold in the international motorsport arena. The A1GP test will give the winner a unique opportunity  to  impress  leading  names  in  the  sport  at  Eastern  Creek  International  Raceway  in Sydney.

  After  participating  in  the  rookie  test  session,  the  award  winner  will  spend  the  whole weekend working with A1 Team Ireland and with the support of regular driver, Portadown’s Adam Carroll. The  team  scored  its  best ever Sprint Race result when Adam came on board for Round 2 this year at Brno in the Czech Republic. He finished third in his debut race before storming through the field from 18th to sixth in the Feature Race.

 The 25-year-old’s  speed combined with team’s experience is making Ireland one of the strongest teams in A1GP this year. A1 Team Ireland was created to represent Ireland in the A1GP series and under Chief Executive Mark Kershaw and Team Principal Mark Gallagher, a formidable team has been assembled.

With 5-time  GP2  race  winner  Carroll  on  board  for  the  2007/08  season,  the  team  have  mounted  a strong challenge and are one of only four teams to have scored points in every race so far this season. With such strong competition, after only three rounds a break-away group is forming at the head of the points table and Team Ireland is proud to be among that front-running group.

 The three young drivers vying for the chance to join Belmayne A1 Team Ireland and fly the flag for  their  nation  in  Australia  were  selected  from  the  six  monthly  winners  of  the  Dunlop  Young Racing Driver of the Month awards, which ran from April to September.

 The candidates then had to  demonstrate  their  skills  before  a  panel  of  judges,  one  of  whom  was  ex-F1  driver  Martin Donnelly, at Mondello Park Racing Circuit. The  Dunlop  Young  Racing  Driver  of  the  Year  scheme  has  been  created  by  Motorsport  Ireland and  is  being  backed  by  the  Irish  Sports  Council  and  Irish  Dunlop.

 The  aim  of  the  award  is  to promote talented and committed young Irish drivers to help them progress to the highest level of International competition. Mark Kershaw, Team Owner: “As a past nominee for the award I understand how important is for  a  young  driver  to  be  recognised  in  the  industry.A1GP  is  all  about  national  drivers  so  it  is extremely appropriate to be able to offer the winner the change to represent Ireland in this way.

Irish drivers all too often see their careers falter after Formula 3, so it’s great that A1GP is able to provide a real future for rising talent. It’s a proud moment to be selected to represent your nation and I hope the winner will reap the benefits of spending a weekend working with our first-class engineers  in  A1GP  The  World  Cup  of  Motorsport.  The  series  is  stronger  than  ever  and  is continuing  to  grow  year-on-year.  Now  in  its  third  season,  Ferrari  has  just  signed  a  six-year agreement  to  manufacture  and  supply  all  A1GP  engines  and  will  consult  on  the  design  and manufacture of all A1GP car chassis for use in Season 4. This is an incredible link-up which will help  take  the  championship  to  the  next  level,  so  it’s  a  very  exciting  time  to  be  involved  with A1GP.”