Christo victorious again in British Championship
20th Jun 2006
Riki Christodoulou recovered from his last nightmare outing in the 2006 Formula A Renault Elf B4 Super 1 British Championship at PF several weeks ago to again scale the podium last Sunday at Larkhall in Scotland.
The teenager, driving his Fernando Alonso Kart for the Spanish Genikart team, picked up 1st and 2nd positions in the two finals after a determined and masterly display in miserable weather conditions.
‘Christo’ from Sutton Coldfield survived a mishap with his brakes during qualification when the pads fell out of the system after seven laps. He was still able to post the second quickest lap-time – missing pole position by a hundredth of a second – and then went on to win both of his heats.
The ’03 JICA British Champion pulled away from the rest of the field in a wet first final for a straightforward victory. In the second sprint he was holding third in a rough race and passed the chequered flag in the same position but was elevated to second place after Chris Rogers was given a five second time penalty for jumping the start.
The result was a perfect tonic for Riki who now heads to Varennes, France for the second round of the Formula A European Championship this weekend and also allowed him to forget the double non-score at PF.
“Apart from the hiccup with the brakes it was a good weekend,’” he commented. “I felt fast from the start and had a good speed through qualification and into the finals. The first race was quite easy. I got out in front early and built a small lead over everyone. The second final had a lot of bumping and barging but second place was OK on the amended results. I will need some bad luck to strike the others if I still want a shout of the Championship but I’ll give it my best shot.”
He now stands a provisional 6th in the standings with the penultimate round set to take place at the Clay Pigeon circuit at the end of July.
Larkhall Final 1
1. RIKI CHRISTODOULOU
2. CHRIS ROGERS
3. TOM ARMOUR
4. DANNY CRUTTENDEN
5. MICHAEL RYALL
Larkhall Final 2
1. JASON PARROTT
2. RIKICHRISTODOULOU
3. MARK LITCHFIELD
4. CHRIS ROGERS
5. DANNY CRUTTENDEN
Provisional Formula A standings
1. MARK LITCHFIELD 375
2. JASON PARROTT 370
3. DANNY CRUTTENDE 330
4. JAMIE CROXFORD 329
5. CHRIS ROGERS 326
6. RIKI CHRISTODOULOU 311
About Riki Christo
Riki Christodoulou has been racing as long as he can remember. In karts, Formula Renault and the British Formula 3 International series. Riki continues to compete in top flight motorsport as one of the UK’s most promising young racing car drivers.
Great Britain
