British driver Adam Carroll makes his debut this weekend in one of the toughest motor sport championships in the world - DTM. The 24 year old from Portadown in Northern Ireland, heads to Hockenheim in Germany where over 100,000 people will watch the opening round of the series.
Adam will be racing in the 2005 Audi A4 in the colours of sponsor Ethos Organics and Castrol-Edge.
Adam has won races in every series in which he has competed. Most recently in GP2 with three wins coming at some of toughest circuits in the world; Imola, Monaco and Spa. In 2005 he was part of the BAR (now Honda F1) Young Driver programme, testing the F1 car successfully on a number of occasions.
Here are some of his thoughts before he travels to Germany…
Q: What have you been doing since the end of the GP2 season and how did DTM come about?
AC: I can’t believe it but it has been eight months since my last race! GP2 finished at the beginning of September although I have driven plenty of cars since then. I took four weeks off from training and got hard back into it when we started looking at Champ Car. I went to the Champ Car races in the US and Australia before being announced as the reserve driver for RuSPORT in Mexico at the last round of the season. I also had several successful tests with RuSPORT and Forsythe Championship Racing too. Then in late December I got a phone call from Dr Colin Kolles who asked if I’d be interested in DTM. The tests went well and here I am!
Q: Why did you decide to go to DTM?
AC: I had done two years in GP2 and unless you are with a top team then it is completely pointless. GP2 is a feeder series and it takes a lot of money to be in a position to win races. It is no secret that I have always struggled for budget. DTM is a professional series with manufacturers in it and I am happy to be part of a competitive, high profile championship.
Q: How has testing been going?
AC: I have been happy with how testing has gone. The car has been running well and I’ve had several days at different circuits.
Q: How different is it driving the DTM Audi to the other cars you’ve raced?
AC: Apart from the fact this one has a roof the principals are the same really! When you first get into the car it is strange. You sit really far back and the vision seems bad with the roof and windscreen pillars. Also you can’t see your wheels; normally you can see when you lock-up and can exactly place the edge of the car. It just took a few laps to get used to it all. The Audi has very good down- force, grip and brakes well too.
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