Devaney leaves Team Ireland

Devaney looks to the states

Irishman Michael Devaney has decided to halt his A1 Team Ireland commitments and is now to focus his career on going stateside for the coming season. After 5 rounds of the A1GP series it is clear that the Irish team are struggling for speed and the team's lack of pace is still unknown even after the experienced Richard Lyons drove and struggled in Indonesia. Last season Michael recorded some of Team Ireland's best results with two 4th place finishes when he subbed for Ralph Firman at three events and this year he has shown to be the quickest driver in the Irish car all season. The team has now replaced engineer Andy Miller with Ex-Jordan man Gary Anderson and they hope this will lead to a more competitive car for the remainder of the season.

Devaney who was German F3 runner up in '05 missed out on racing during the 2006 season after holding off for the A1GP drive with Team Ireland but after the dismal start to the A1GP campaign he now needs to focus on racing elsewhere if he wants his career to move forward. The 22 year old is now looking at racing in Champ Car Atlantic's which is a feeder series to America's premier single-seater Championship the Champ Car World series. The Winner of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship will receive $2million dollars which would secure a drive in the Champ Car World series the following year.

Michael is excited about his future plans, "This season with A1 Team Ireland has been an uphill struggle so I've decided to look at securing a competitive drive elsewhere for 2007 and the Champ car Atlantic series looks like the best option for me. I have only heard good things about racing in America and it looks like there are much more opportunity's for a driver out there, especially an under-funded driver! I am also looking at some options in Europe so I'm not closing the door on anything just yet."commented the Dubliner.

Michael who was twice crowned 'Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year' is hoping to secure the funding for a move to the Champ Car Atlantic series before the first round which kicks off in a new race around the streets of Las Vegas on April 8th.

-credit: www.michaeldevaney.com