An electronic glitch robbed Adam Carroll of double victory for Team Ireland in the New Zealand leg of the A1GP championship.

The Ulster driver won the sprint race at the Taupo circuit and was on course to win the feature too until the second round of pit stops when the anti-stall system on the car accidentally kicked in as Carroll returned to the track.

His Ferrari engine died momentarily, but that was all it took for Switzerland's Neel Jani to sprint in front. Although Carroll quickly regained full power to re-join in second place, he was unable to re-take the lead.

Nevertheless, his one-two finish increased Team Ireland's lead at the top of the A1GP standings, the Swiss now 13 points behind with Portugal a further points behind in third.

Carroll, who had qualified on pole position for both races, explained: “Everything was going well until the second pit-stop. As I left the pit box the engine just went. It didn't stall immediately — actually, the anti-stall system came in — but then it stalled completely and I had to bump start it and go again. I don't really know what happened. I was actually lucky not to lose more places.

“But overall I'm happy with the outcome and it's great to extend the lead in the championship.”

Earlier Carroll, from Portadown, had led virtually all the way in the sprint race to claim his third victory of this season's series.

Robert Doornbos of Team Netherlands led for one lap in the middle of the race while Carroll made his compulsory pit stop but the position were quickly reversed when the Dutch car came into the pits a lap later. Doornbos, in fact, was overtaken by Jani during the stops and he ended up third as Carroll took the win ahead of the Swiss driver.

And it seemed Team Ireland would record their first double winning weekend when Carroll built up a lead of three seconds in the feature race only for the electronic systems to malfunction at a crucial moment and rob him of a second success.