Carroll and Turkington back in action
5 July 2010
Last weekend provided a return to international motor racing for two of Northern Ireland's top racing drivers.
Adam Carroll, a star of A1GP throughout its latter years, and reigning British touring car champion Colin Turkington both came back to racing after lengthy spells on the sidelines. Both enhanced their reputations as well.
Carroll's IndyCar debut at Watkins Glen - and his subsequent re-introduction into the Castrol Rankings at 1320th - proved that Michael Andretti was right about offering him a part-time deal in the series this year.
All the skills that enabled him to bring Team Ireland the final A1GP title in 2008/09 (and to haul himself into the Castrol Rankings top 40) were in evidence as he ventured onto the track in his AFS/Andretti Autosport Dallara.
From being three seconds off the pace in first practice, he reduced the gap to 1s in qualifying and made it into the top 10 on the grid.
A top 10 finish looked likely following a terrific battle with former Champ Car title-winner Paul Tracy, but a late stop for fuel dropped him to 16th by the flag.
Turkington's spell out of the cockpit was not quite as long - it only stretched back to October last year - but it was no less keenly felt.
He made his return to the circuits at the Algarve last weekend with the same WSR squad with which he won last year's British Touring Car Championship; only this time the competition was the World Championship.
Qualifying inside the top 10 was a good start and he immediately proved his ability to compete for independent class wins.
Despite being nerfed off the circuit by wayward SEATs in both races, Turkington finished 12th and 10th, enough to net him fourth and second place in the independents class.
It was also enough to move him up 92 places in the Castrol Rankings to 422nd. However, he's still a long way from the top 200 spot he occupied at the season's start.
Both men will have more opportunities to move up the Castrol Rankings in the coming months. More important to each of them, undoubtedly, will be turning their partial schedules into full-time deals for 2011.
The Castrol Rankings is based on drivers' measurable performance over the last 12 months, including everything from their grid position to fastest laps. For further information on how the Castrol Rankings scores are calculated, click here.
