“On Monday, I still felt really bad, but I just got better every day with the warm weather in New Zealand, and it looks like the clean, fresh air helped me as well. The first race was already good, but coming up from fifth to first was something we would not have expected.
“This was the most points we have scored on a weekend this season, so now it is starting to come good for us, even if there are still a lot of points needed to catch up.”
Although disappointed not to have made it a win double, Carroll's second place was enough to confirm Ireland's position at the head of the standings, now with a 13-point lead over Switzerland.
“Everything was going well until the second pit-stop,” he sighed, “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.”
Albuquerque's third place was good enough to move the Portuguese team into a similar position in the standings.
“I think the race pace and our speed this weekend was really there, but it was just a question of being in front,” he admitted, “It was interesting to see the gaps between us when Adam was leading and I would have liked to be in front to see if I could have gone at the same pace.
“Offline, though, it was really dirty, and I think it was just a case of whoever didn't make a mistake would get third place.”
Martin kept his head to bring fourth place for Australia, while the Netherlands, France, India, the USA, Italy and South Africa rounded out the top ten. Brazil and Malaysia had been in the mix early on, but both spun and lost ground, the former after appearing to close off Monaco's Clivio Piccione and veteran Fairuz Fauzy under his own steam heading into the chicane, perhaps as a similarly rotating Indonesia distracted him.
USA's Marco Andretti had already taken a place from Italy when Fauzy spun, so moved up another place when the Malaysian went off, while Doornbos also took advantage of the confusion to make a move on France's Loïc Duval for fifth.
Piccione had been heading for a possible top ten before his brush with Brazil, which cost him his front wing, and a subsequent spin, while returnee Cheng Congfu endured a trying race for China as he spun early on, then attracted a drive-thru' penalty for leaving the pits with his rear jack still attached.
There were problems at the start for local favourite Chris van der Drift and luckless Lebanon, who clashed towards the rear of the field, ending Daniel Morad's day with front wing damage and forcing the New Zealand car to pit for fresh tyres after picking up a puncture.
Great Britain debutant Dan Clarke, meanwhile, spun off at turn eleven, but was able to rejoin and eventually finished 13th.
