07/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Belmayne A1 Team Ireland heads to Mexico City for round eight of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport next weekend with Adam Carroll (right) more determined than ever to show Ireland's potential.
A difficult few events have seen Ireland struggle to score points or show their true form but the team come together more determined than ever to put things right as A1GP heads to Mexico's capital city.
Built in 1962, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez hosted its first Formula One race a year later. Construction of the circuit was encouraged by F1 driver Ricardo Rodriguez. He later lost his life at the track and when his brother Pedro, who also drove in Formula One, was killed while racing, the circuit was named in their memory and translates into English as 'Rodriguez Brothers Racetrack'.
The bumpy surface makes handling difficult for the drivers and the high altitude means thinner air which effects both the car and the driver. The 4.42km track lies 2,285 metres (7,500 feet) above sea level which makes it a challenge for the engineers to get the optimum set up.
Dublin racer, Niall Quinn will also be back for the rookie session as he continues to develop his relationship with the team and build on his knowledge of the car to help the Ireland move forward.
Adam Carroll: "I have a good picture in my head from doing some laps in a Champ car here which will help me get up to speed much quicker, especially now I don't have the rookie session. It's a good circuit with some fast flowing corners so I'm looking forward to getting back to it again. You do notice the change in altitude, the air is really thin and it effects the cars quite a lot but you adjust and get used to it quite quickly. Durban was a hard weekend for all of us but we're still determined to turn it around and end the season with a couple of good results. That's what we're aiming to do and that's what we're going to go to Mexico to try and achieve."
Dan Walmsley, Race Engineer: "The mood in the team remains upbeat. We've had two bad weekends in terms of not scoring points but we've still shown flashes of pace, it's just disappointing we couldn't transform these into results. Mexico is a circuit Adam has driven on before in Champ car. It's a fast interesting circuit with lots of sweeping corners which is going to be all about getting the change of direction right and being committed and I think in Adam we have a driver who can deliver a result there. Its also quite high altitude which makes it difficult to set the car up because you are down on power because of the thinner air. Getting the aerodynamic balance and the gear ratios right is a challenge but I think we've done a lot of work on that already and I'm confident we can put together a good package to give us a good starting point for the rest of the weekend."
Mark Gallagher, Team Principal: "After a very strong first half of the season which took us into the top six with 50 points, the last couple of race weekends have been very frustrating for the entire team; so we need a result in Mexico and indeed for the remaining three races in the series. For whatever reason we have not yet realised the potential in Team Ireland this season, but not for lack of trying. We need this next race weekend to go smoothly, for the car to be reliable and for qualifying to give Adam the opportunity to race at the front come Sunday."