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Mexico - A1 Team Ireland was on sensational
form in Mexico City this afternoon to win the thrilling Feature race from Great
Britain and USA, becoming the 15th nation to win an A1GP race. It is a fantastic
result for Portadown's Adam Carroll in his debut season for the team, and
particularly well timed as the win comes just one day before Ireland celebrates
St Patrick's Day (17 March). The top three title contenders - Switzerland, New
Zealand and France - all endured difficult afternoons and failed to score any
points.
A green flag signalled the start of the action-packed 47-lap race in hot and
sunny weather conditions (36 degrees C), after the first start was aborted due
to technical problems with the starting lights.
Twenty-five-year-old Adam Carroll, who topped the time sheets in free
practice on Friday, started the race from fifth and leapt up the order to second
behind Switzerland's Neel Jani after amazing work from the Irish team during the
first compulsory pit stop on lap nine. He held position until lap 34 when he
pitted the emerald green car for the second time and rejoined the action as race
leader after another sensational stop. The crowds roared as Carroll, who was
making his 14th race appearance for Ireland, crossed the line first to take his
and the team's first ever A1GP victory.
Great Britain's Oliver Jarvis put in a brilliant performance to race from
fourth on the grid to finish second, notching up a double-podium on his final
outing for the British team this season and picking up more valuable
championship points. Jarvis also scored a bonus point for setting the fastest
lap of the race and this weekend's points haul moves GBR up to fourth in the
title table behind France.
USA's Jonathan Summerton, who scored his nation's best ever result at Mexico
City last year when he finished second in the Feature race, was once again on
superb form, charging through the field from seventh on the grid to finish third
and take the final podium position ahead of the Netherlands' Jeroen
Bleekemolen.
Pole-sitter Canada's Robert Wickens got a good start but lost the lead to
Switzerland on lap six and fell down the order to third during the first round
of pit stops. By lap 31 Wickens was running in fifth place as GBR and USA
managed to overtake the 19-year-old who had been battling with an over-heating
car and clutch problem from lap one. The Canadian racer, who said this was the
hardest race he has ever driven, went on to cross the line in fifth
position.
Having snuck through and taken the lead from Canada's Robert Wickens on lap
six, title leader Switzerland's Neel Jani dominated the action until lap 34,
when he came in for his second compulsory pit-stop at the same time as Ireland.
After another stunning pit stop from the Irish crew, Carroll took the lead from
Jani, who was shortly after hit with a drive-through penalty for unsafe release
from his second stop, demoting the Swiss star to 19th at the chequered flag.
New Zealand's Jonny Reid, who was running in seventh for the first half of
the race, ran wide at the chicane on lap 25 and brought out the safety car,
allowing the pack to bunch up behind race leader Switzerland. Reid rejoined the
action in 18th ahead of Mexico and finally crossed the line 12th.
Home nation A1 Team Mexico's David Garza, who led the race for two laps
during the second round of pit stops, scored his nation's best ever home race
result, making up eight places from the back of the grid to cross the line
14th.
Feature race winner Adam Carroll was delighted to score Ireland's first win
and paid tribute to his team's incredible work in the pits:
'It's been three long years for the team and it's my first year in A1GP. I
think everybody just saw our true potential this weekend especially with the
guys with the pits stop. We knew they were capable of doing those times and
today they pulled it off and it won us the race. I'd just like to say thanks to
everybody, we've put in so much effort and this is for everybody who has
believed in A1 Team Ireland. Hopefully this is just the start and we will finish
the year extremely strongly and try to come back and win the championship next
year.
He continued:
'We tried to relax and just go racing and have a bit of fun. We still put in
the hard work but I think everyone was just a bit more relaxed and we were able
to show our true potential. We knew the guys could do it and they did and
hopefully this is the first of many - it's just fantastic. I had champagne in my
trophy and I don't think the celebrating will stop tonight - it will probably
finish sometime tomorrow afternoon, I just hope everybody makes the flight!'
Oliver Jarvis, who notched up two podium finishes today on his final race
outing for GBR this season, said:
'Mexico has been a fantastic place for me. I've had four great results here
and we really wanted the win today but unfortunately Ireland just did a
fantastic job, a whole team effort, but we are happy to go away with two
seconds. It's some strong points and we will look forward to going into the last
two races and especially Brands Hatch on 4 May.'
USA's Jonathan Summerton raced from seventh on the grid to third, to score
the team's third ever podium finish and the second of his A1GP career:
'It was again very similar to last year, we had a very quick car at the end
and I was really happy with the car the whole race. At first we had a little bit
of a problem but we managed to change a bit of the set up through the tyres and
then we just kept chasing people down as quickly as possible. I'm happy with
third. I was trying my best but it didn't happen.'
Switzerland leaves Mexico on 128 points ahead of New Zealand on 113 and
France, who failed to pick up any points this weekend, on 108. Eight nations,
including today's Feature race winner Ireland, are still mathematically in with
a chance of winning the championship as the thrilling series returns to China
for the penultimate round in Shanghai on 11-13 April 2008.
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