A pit stop problem prevented Carroll from winning the feature race

Ireland's Adam Carroll is now 13 points clear in the A1GP series after winning the sprint race in New Zealand and finishing second in the feature event.

Carroll produced a supreme drive from pole position to win the sprint event at Taupo by 1.488 seconds from Switzerland's Neel Jani.

The Swiss defending champion then finished 1.047secs ahead of Portadown man Carroll in the main race.

"It was a great race obviously," said Carroll of his sprint win.

"I am very, very happy. It is a hard little circuit and easy to make mistakes.

"There are some interesting bumps in some quick corners that unsettle the car and you have to work hard all the time."

Carroll got away cleanly and led into the first corner before establishing a gap over Holland's Netherlands` Robert Doornbos with Portugal's Filipe Filipe Albuquerque third.

Jani managed to jump into second following some slick work in the pits by the Swiss team and while he closed on Carroll in the latter stages, the Irishman was never in danger of relinquishing the lead.

In the main race, pole-sitter Carroll got away cleanly and he led by 3.482secs advantage after 16 laps.

However, the Irishman lost his lead at the second pit stop when his car's anti-stall system engaged and brought him to a momentary halt, allowing Jani to take the lead.

The field then bunched up when the safety car had to come out on lap 38 but Jani made an excellent re-start and despite his car leaking oil, managed to hold off Carroll over the final nine laps.

Already this season, Carroll has claimed a sprint win in China and feature-race victory in Malaysia.

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