MOTORSPORT:Team Ireland increased their lead at the top of the A1GP standings in New Zealand this morning as Adam Carroll added a second place in the feature race to his earlier victory in the sprint.
Switzerland’s Neel Jani took the feature race at Taupo to leave the defending champions 13 points adrift of Ireland
Jani took the chequered flag 1.047seconds ahead of Carroll with Portugal’s Filipe Filipe Albuquerque finishing where he started in third.
Pole-sitter Carroll got away cleanly and led in the early stages but the Netherlands‘ Robert Doornbos suffered a poor start to drop from second on the grid to fifth.
Jani had jumped from fifth to second and was exerting plenty of pressure on Carroll as the duo traded fastest laps.
The first round of pit stops saw the two drivers hold station but with Carroll holding a 3.482secs advantage after 16 laps.
However, the Portadown driver’s second stop proved far more crucial as his car’s anti-stall system engaged and brought him to a momentary halt, allowing Jani to sneak by and assume the lead.
But there was further drama as Monaco’s Clivio Piccione went off at Turn 11, bringing out the safety car on lap 38 and bunching up the field once again for what proved to be a nine-lap shootout.
Jani, though, made an excellent re-start and despite his car leaking oil, managed to hold off Carroll.
Carroll won the earlier sprint race from pole position, leading into the first corner before establishing a gap over Doornbos with Albuquerque third.
Jani managed to jump into second following some slick work in the pits by the Swiss team and while he closed on the Irish car in the latter stages, Carroll was never in danger of relinquishing the lead and crossed the line 1.488secs ahead of his rival.
“It was a great race obviously from pole to win,” said Carroll. “I am very, very happy. It is a hard little circuit and easy to make mistakes.
There are some interesting bumps in some quick corners that unsettle the car and you have to work hard all the time.”