Justin Hynes hears rumours of Irish interest

At least two Irish drivers could be on their way to Formula One careers with rumours at this weekend's Italian Grand insisting that several teams are interested in testing young Irish racers.

The two most likely candidates are Portadown's Adam Carroll and Ralph Firman, who though English-born carries an Irish passport and wears a shamrock on his helmet.

Carroll recently won the scholarship series of the British F3 Championship taking 14 wins from 22 starts and, according to his management team, is close to sealing a test with a leading team in Formula One.

Firman, meanwhile, is believed to be being considered for a test role at a number of Formula One teams on the back of a string of hugely impressive performances in Japan's Formula Nippon series, the closest series to Formula One in terms of lap times and the series which spawned the Formula One careers of Eddie Irvine, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Ralf Schumacher, and Pedro De la Rosa.

No team names have been released by either of the two drivers' handlers, but Jordan, surprisingly, is not currently believed to be among the teams interested in the two young stars.

If Carroll and Firman secure tests with Formula One teams during the off-season period, it could open the door for a number of drivers including Co Down's Richard Lyons who has also shone in Formula Nippon despite running in one of the series' lesser teams.

It could also benefit Cork's Michael Keohane, who is currently competing in the British F3 championship, Kildare's John O'Hara, who won last year's Formula Opel championship, Michael Devaney, who is currently running second to Nico Rosberg, son of 1982 F1 champion Keke, in Germany's Formula BMW championship and Robbie Coleman, the winner of this year's Formula Ireland championship.

Meanwhile, Formula One will gain a new destination in 2004 with the announcement over the weekend that the sport will race in the Middle Eastern kingdom of Bahrain in two years.