GP2 Feature - The Adam Carroll Interview
15/06/2006
Monaco was sickening. Having won the GP2 race there last year, Adam Carroll found it incredibly frustrating not to get past the first corner in 2006, his engine having let go.
What had he done wrong? Last year he won three races, finished fifth in the final standings and tested for the BAR Honda F1 team. He was the up-and-coming man in British motor racing. But this year he's struggled with the set-up of his Racing Engineering car and has battled to get good results.
A podium at the Nürburgring was a ray of light, but frustration set in again at Barcelona a week later, when miscommunication with the team about when to pit for tyres cost him another podium.
Perhaps Silverstone, his home race, would be different. Adam lives 15 minutes from the Northants track, and he knows it well from his junior career.
"It's fantastic for young drivers to be given the opportunity to race on wide, fast tracks like Silverstone," said 23-year-old Carroll on the eve of the race. "You have to lean on the car in the fast corners, which takes a lot of confidence. I can think of nowhere better to get my season back on-track. "
Adam doesn't lack confidence, and it showed immediately at Silverstone. He started Saturday's feature race from pole position, his first front row grid position of the year. But drama struck before the race had even started.
As the cars sat on the grid, smoke started to bellow from the back of his Dallara, caused by an incorrectly attached spark plug. Luckily, the oil fire was extinguished before any damage was done.
At the start, Adam lost the lead to Lewis Hamilton, but he looked set to take second place, until Timo Glock overtook him during the pit stop sequence.
"It was great to get back on the podium," says Adam afterwards, "but I'm desperate to get a car that can see me win races again. We must work really hard to improve the car at the Paul Ricard test at the end of the month."
Race two at Silverstone was another strong showing, which saw him move up from sixth on the grid to third by the chequered flag. And a short while after the race, he inherited second place when Felix Porteiro was disqualified for a technical infringement.
"If felt fantastic to take another podium," says Adam, "And while I'd prefer us to have taken second place on merit, I'll take the extra points because it moves me up another place in the championship table. We're now on a roll. Let's hope we can keep up this momentum during the second half of the season."
Carroll lies seventh in the championship, on 22 points. The next round of the series is at Magny Cours on 15 July – time to test that momentum.