 Adam Carroll won the GP2 Series sprint race at Imola |
Northern Ireland's Adam Carroll has made himself a contender for the inaugural GP2 Series title by winning Sunday's sprint race at Imola. The Portadown driver, who tested for the BAR Formula One team over the winter, won ahead of Alexandre Premat.
Carroll's display proved he could be a serious challenger for the GP2 series which has replaced Formula 3000.
Renault's Heikki Kovalainen leads the championship after following up his win on Saturday with third in the sprint.
Carroll had seemed destined for a podium finish on Saturday but a late penalty forced him to pit again and he ended up fifth.
However, the 22-year-old made up for that disappointment with a dominant display on Sunday.
He moved into the top three on lap four of when his pressure on Jani paid off and five laps later the Super Nova driver was battling for the lead after passing Nico Rosberg for second.
At the end of lap 11, Carroll harried Premat into a mistake and seized the lead at the final chicane.
Three sons of former world champions were on show but none came close to Carroll. Rosberg and Mattias Lauda retired while British Formula Three champion Nelson Piquet Jr was sixth.