Northern Ireland’s Adam Carroll isn’t satisfied with making waves in GP2 this year – he’s also been testing for Team Ireland in the A1GP pre-season event alongside returning driver Ralph Firman.
Carroll, who drives for FMS International in the GP2 series, turned heads at Istanbul Park by taking two podiums.
Then he did the same at Silverstone by setting the fourth-fastest track time on the first day of testing, just 0.183 seconds slower than pace setters South Africa.
After successfully completing a rookie evaluation at Snetterton he was asked to step up to full testing duties for A1 Team Ireland.
Carroll had impressed with his pace in Norfolk despite wet and windy conditions.
The team was hopeful that the 24-year-old from Portadown would be able to perform strongly at Silverstone – a track where he has already taken a GP2 victory this year.
Firman, a former Jordan F1 driver and Le Mans veteran currently driving in the Japanese Super GT Championship, is returning to the Ireland cockpit for the first time since season one.
He scored the team’s podium finish in Portugal and qualified third on two occasions during the team’s debut season in 2005/06.
However, no final decisions on the driver line-up for the season will be made until after the second official A1GP test on September 18th and 19th when the team will test at least one other Irish driver.
Mark Kershaw, team owner, said: “The Silverstone test has always been a good indicator of who performs well in the coming season and we want to make sure we’re towards the top of the timesheets.
“Adam Carroll showed great speed and consistency at Snetterton and he has accepted our invitation to participate in the first official test while we’re delighted to welcome Ralph back.”