Christodoulou takes victory at season finale

Formula Renault UK with Michelin driver Riki Christodoulou has ended his debut season in the series and first term inside a single-seater racecar by taking his maiden triumph at the fast and relentless Thruxton circuit. The nineteen year old guided his Fortec FR2.0 to the chequered flag in the second of the two races in Andover that also represented the final nineteenth and twentieth rounds of the 2007 competition.

‘Christo’ rounded off his first ‘toe-dip’ into Formula Renault with his seventh podium result from twenty events across seven of Britain’s premier circuits and his second victory after scooping the second round of the German series at Oschersleben back in July. The Sutton Coldfield-based former British Junior Karting Champion has ended his first attempt with sixth position overall and only narrowly lost out on the rookie Graduate Cup.

The 2006 European vice champion karter was unlucky not to have taken a double win at Thruxton. He qualified only three thousandths of a second away from Pole Position and then was shunted into a spin and out of the first leg by his cousin and closest competitor for the Graduate Cup. Fired-up and ready for race two he amassed a clear lead from the first lap but had to work hard in the closing stages after the appearance of the safety car drew the pack closer together. He managed to seal 32 points for first position however.

“The weekend went pretty well and obviously I’m chuffed to take my first win,” he commented. “Do I feel like it is overdue? Perhaps, a little bit. I have certainly showed that I have the speed to do well in this series. 2007 has been a learning year but my goal for the weekend was to end the season strongly and I rose to the task. It was awesome to see the team and everyone leaning over the pit-wall at the end and it felt as great as I thought it would do.”

“Things were a bit tense between Adam (his cousin) and I after that first one,” he continued. “He was making some crazy moves to stop me going through and leading the race and eventually he hit my wheel after attempting to go around the outside when there just wasn’t room for two cars on the corner. I was really annoyed as I knew that I could have won both races.”

“The next time we came out on the grid I felt really confident and was determined to ‘do’ Adam off the line,” he added. “I had almost a three second lead after three laps and would have been long gone if the safety car had not drawn us back together. I think I had pushed the tyres too hard in the first part of the race though as the car had gone off after that. He got close near the end but I kept cool to win.”

Formula Renault is arguably the highest profile racing series for up-and-coming drivers with F1 ace Lewis Hamilton a former champion. The schedule runs alongside the British Touring Car Championship and race highlights can be found on Sky Sports.

Although the domestic campaign has come to an end Riki still has a busy schedule ahead. A two day test at Croft will take place next week before he heads to the Montmelo circuit just outside Barcelona for another entry in the World Series. The FR Winter Cup with races at Donington Park and Croft will then take the youngster into December where he will begin to think about testing and preparation for 2008.

Category: News