Adam Carroll

Adam Carroll is a British racing driver who was competing in the various categories of motorsport since his debut in 1999, including FIA World Endurance Championship, Formula E, DTM, British GT Championship, Auto GP Series, IndyCar Series, European Le Mans Series.

His biggest achievement is the championship title in the 2009 A1 Grand Prix Series with Team Ireland.

Adam's talent never was fully proven

Early career

He was born on October 26, 1982 in Portadown, in Northern Ireland. As a 9-year-old boy, Adam began to drive karting and during five years he had a solid success. He won the Elf La Filiere Motorsport Academy in Le Mans and in 1999 made a debut in formula racing.

Carroll competed in the British Formula Ford and won the Winter Series, while in 2002 he became a champion of British Formula 3 B-class, scoring a record number of points.

British Formula 3 runner-up

In 2003, Carroll moved to the highest class of British Formula 3. Interestingly, he drove for three teams that year and had pretty good results, scoring eight consecutive podiums. The same year Adam also competed part-time in Formula 3 Euro Series and managed to outperform his teammate Nico Rosberg in the season-closing race in South Korea.

Adam spent most of his career in formula racing

Carroll continued to race in the British Formula 3 in 2004 and finished the season as a vice-champion, behind Nelson Piquet Jr and he scored five race wins. He also finished third in Masters of Formula 3 and was European Formula 3 Cup Champion.

GP2 Series debut

Adam received a call from Super Nova Racing to replace Hayanari Shimoda, just a few days before the start of 2005 GP2 Series season. Although he wasn't prepared enough for the season, Carroll had a very good year and was very competitive. He scored three wins, at Imola, Monza, and Spa, before finishing 5th overall.

Those results weren’t unnoticed and he was signed by BAR Honda Formula 1 team as a test driver which was a huge step forward for the Ulsterman.

Driving for Racing Engineering, GP2 Series

Next year Carroll decided to stay in the series but he moved to a smaller Racing Engineering team. He did that because he always had a problem to secure a proper sponsorship for a regular drive, which is why he decided to change the team. That move saved his career. The season of 2006 was solid for Carroll who finished 6th in the Drivers’ championship after he scored four podium places.

Plenty of duties in 2007

During 2007, Carroll combined his duties between GP2 Series, DTM, and A1 Grand Prix. In the German DTM championship, Adam debuted with Futurecom TME’s Audi A4. He drove in five races but without any success, so it wasn't surprising when he left the series to continue his formula racing career.

Carroll had a short spell in DTM

In the GP2, Adam jumped into the seat of FMS International’s car as a substitute for Antonio Pizzonia and scored two wins, at Silverstone and Hungaroring. He also had other three podiums that pushed him to the 7th place overall which was a very good achievement considering the fact that he missed opening five races of the season.

The same year Carrol debuted in the A1 GP Series driving for Team Ireland. He won the race in Mexico and finished the season of 2006-2007 in 6th place which was a good overture for the upcoming campaign.

Adam Carroll was A1 GP champion

During the A1 GP season, Carroll achieved his biggest success so far. Driving for A1 Team Ireland, Adam won the races in China, New Zealand, Malaysia, and both races at Silverstone which was (with other three podium finishes) enough for the 2008-2009 title. Carroll finished 17 points ahead of a runner-up Neel Jani (A1 Team Switzerland) and 20 points ahead of Filipe Albuquerque (A1 Team Portugal).

Adam Carroll, A1 GP champion in 2009

During 2008, the Northern Irish driver appeared in two rounds of GP2 Series, driving for FMS International and replacing Adrian Valles, but he retired from three out of four races.

Formula 1 racing remained a dream

After success in A1GP, Carroll had contacts with two Formula 1 teams – Manor and Campos Racing. Unfortunately, his wish to drive in Formula 1 was never fulfilled since he failed to raise four million euros of sponsorship that could secure him a drive.

Adam Carroll, Andretti Autosport, Dallara IR-05 - Honda, IndyCar

That’s why he focused on finding another series in which he can race on a regular basis. Carroll went to the United States to drive in a couple of races for Andretti Motorsport in the second half of the IndyCar Championship. He got a chance in two events, but he wasn't so good. He finished in 16th place at Watkins Glen and 19th at Mid-Ohio.

Return to GP2 Series

After competing in one race of Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2011, Adam returned to GP2 Series which was definitely a step backwards in his career. Driving for Super Nova Racing, Carroll picked points in two out of eight races he has entered.

Adam Carroll, Super Nova Racing, 2011 GP2 Series

The same year he also competed in the selected events of Auto GP Series. Driving for Campos Racing, Carroll won the race at Mugello and finished 2nd at Donington and Valencia which was a very good achievement.

Sports cars racing career

Adam focused his career on sports cars and GT racing in 2012. Driving Vita4one Racing Team’s BMW Z4 GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series GT Cup he finished 21st while in the FIA GT1 World Championship, driving for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, Carroll was 19th after scoring one podium finish.

Adam Carroll, Rob Bell and Nico Verdonck's Gulf Racing McLaren MP4-12C. Blancpain GT Series

Adam joined Mclaren as a factory driver in 2013 and alongside Rob Bell competed in the pro category of the Blancpain Endurance Series. He took the 14th place overall but in Gulf 12 hours race he finished 5th.

ELMS and British GT career

In 2014, Carroll combined his duties between the European Le Mans Series and British GT Championship. He drove Gulf Racing UK’s, Porsche 911 RSR in ELMS and took 11th position in the final classification while in the British GT he finished 15th overall, driving an FF Corse’s Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

Porsche 911 RSR, Gulf Racing UK, ELMS

In 2015, Adam continued to race in both championships and made a significant improvement, especially in the ELMS. He won one race and had other two podiums before he took the 4th place in the Drivers’ championship. In British GT the results didn’t improve so much and Carroll found himself at 12th place. He also missed several races that year.

New challenges for the 2016 campaign

The season of 2016 was full of new challenges for the Irishman. Carroll continued to race in British GT for FF Corse but also for the Barwell Motorsport and managed to score his first win in the series.

He made a debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Am class with Gulf Racing. Carroll also debuted in 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished 5th in his class.

Adam Carroll was driving for Jaguar Formula E Team in the season 2016/2017

Season with Jaguar in the Formula E

He also debuted in the FIA Formula E championship, as a driver of the newly-formed Jaguar Racing team. He spent full season with the team, scoring points two times in twelve races and finishing 21st in the championship standings. He was replaced for the 2017/2018 season.

Carroll returned to full-time racing in 2019 in the Ferrari Challenge Europe.

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