Team Ireland to make Race of Champions debut

The Race of Champions will feature a team from Ireland for the first time when the 2008 event is held at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 14 December. One of the country’s brightest young motor racing stars, Adam Carroll, will be joined by rally ace Gareth MacHale, in the team. Both will participate in the ROC Nations Cup and The Race of Champions.

Carroll currently leads the prestigious A1GP World Cup of Motorsport series for Ireland, so the five-times race-winner in the F1-supporting GP2 series is no stranger to The Race of Champions' nation versus nation format.

"I am really looking forward to competing in the Race of Champions,” comments Carroll, ”because not only will it be great fun but also really interesting to drive so many types of vehicles against such an impressive line up of competitors. It's a unique opportunity to perform in such a famous venue as the new Wembley Stadium and to give motor sports fans a lot of entertainment over the course of one day. From a driving point of view, I am particularly looking forward to driving the World Rally Car and the buggies."

Meanwhile, MacHale, the 2005 Irish National Forestry Rally Champion is determined to do his best for Irish motorsport.

"It is a fantastic opportunity for me to take part in this years Race of Champions and I am looking forward to representing my country and Irish Rallying. The Race of Champions is such a prestigious event and one of the highlights of the motorsport calendar. I am looking forward to racing alongside the greats from both rallying and circuit racing"

"Support for both Adam and myself should be great as I know a large number of Irish motorsport fans travel to the event every year and I am sure we will make them very proud and hopefully compete well enough to have a chance to mix it with the world championship drivers"

The ultimate end-of-season racing celebration, The Race of Champions pits the best competitors from the world of two and four-wheeled motorsport together to show off their abilities on an asphalt track constructed on top of Wembley’s famous pitch.

Fredrik Johnsson, President of event organisers IMP, said: “Ireland has a very rich heritage in motorsport. The fans there, especially in rallying, are among the most enthusiastic and passionate in the world. We had more than 700 fans travel over to Paris from Ireland when the event was at the Stade de France.

“That’s why I am delighted to announce the first team to represent Ireland in The Race of Champions – they will have their work cut out as the new boys, but I’m certain they will rise to the challenge and, with the luck of the Irish on their side, who knows what they will achieve.”