New car changes Ireland's fortunes

The team were given permission to build a spare chassis overnight on Saturday in the hope that it would prove that there was a fundamental problem with the car they had raced all season.

Richard Lyons had only qualified 17th on the grid, but the 27-year-old made up five places in the short sprint race, and then moved up from 12th on the grid to finish fifth in the feature race.

Team boss Mark Gallagher said: "Here the evidence of Team Ireland's situation was clear for all to see.

"Having been uncompetitive since the beginning of the season, with the exception of either wet conditions or slow stop-go tracks, it was evident that there was something very wrong."

The Irish team had already had their car inspected by Lola earlier in the season, but they did not enjoy a big gain in performance despite the manufacturer finding some problems with the car back in November.

"We'd had our race chassis checked out after Brno, but there is no doubt that car did not work in higher load corners whatever we did," Gallagher added.

Lyons has struggled with the previous car for the majority of the season, and he was delighted to get the chance to prove himself in the series.

"I'd like to thank the team bosses for showing faith in me in recent months while the team was trying to find the problem with the car," he said.

"The car was fast and reliable, so I had the tool with which to do the job. It was a good race and we showed our ability."