Ireland's Devaney Stands in for Firman In A1 Grand Prix of Nations

Ireland's Devaney Stands in for Firman In A1 Grand Prix of Nations

>arch 31, 2006

Shanghai, China -- A1 Team Ireland has a driver change for this weekend's A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Shanghai International Circuit, with Michael Devaney stepping up to stand in for principal driver Ralph Firman in this the final round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series. Firman is otherwise committed to testing for Aguri Suzuki's ARTA Honda Japanese Super GT team.


The 21-year-old has been A1 Team Ireland's reserve driver all season, and has already proved himself when deputising for Firman at the inaugural Brands Hatch event and then in finishing fourth in the Eastern Creek Sprint Race in Australia in November.

Devaney is delighted to be in the driving seat once again: "I'm thrilled and proud to have the opportunity to race for A1 Team Ireland again. I'd like to thank the team for giving me a third run and will do my best to get points scoring finishes in both races and a podium if the opportunity arises. I'm also grateful to Ralph for being a great inspiration and mentor, and I've learned an enormous amount from being present with the team at events."

"Ralph has driven his heart out all season," said A1 Team Ireland Team Principal Mark Gallagher, "bringing the team its first podium finish in Portugal, setting fastest laps at two races and achieving the team's strongest performance in a weekend at the last race at Laguna Seca. It has been a tough season for the team, full of extreme highs and lows, times when we have excelled ourselves and times when the team could have done better. Ralph, however, has provided us with a foundation of speed and experience on which to build the team during this first season. We're extremely lucky to have someone as capable as Michael to step in.

"We're nine points adrift of fourth place overall, and if the team can deliver a reliable car and good performance in Sunday's pit stop we're confident Michael can deliver the goods. This is the ideal opportunity for him to finish the season on a high and help bring A1 Team Ireland the result it deserves." ‹ previous  •  7269 of 12885  •  next ›