Christo Claims First Career Formula Three Podium Result
3rd May 2009
West Midlander moves up to third after finishing fourth and second at Silverstone.
Riki “Christo” Christodoulou posted his first ever podium result in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Silverstone today (SUN) and now lies third in the prestigious single-seater championship.
Starting the third and fourth rounds of the 20-race series from fifth and third places respectively on the 19-car grids, the 20-year-old from Sutton Coldfield claimed fourth and second positions in the two, 18-lap races.
“Christo” made a tardy start in the opening race slipping to sixth but had recovered back up to fifth on the completion of the opening lap and moved up to fourth on the third lap. Despite intense pressure from series leader Daniel Ricciardo for almost the entire 30-minute race duration, Riki took a fine fourth – just 4.283secs behind race winner Renger van der Zande (NED).
Riki said: “I was a little slow away again off the grid but had reclaimed the two places I’d lost before the end of the opening lap. The problem was that my tyres deteriorated very quickly and so I was struggling for grip from very early in the race.”
“Christo” started from third place in race two – the West Midlander’s best F3 qualifying position – but lost a place off the grid to lie fourth. The top-four cars were covered by 0.4secs at mid-distance but Riki moved up to third place on the 13th lap then in to second place two laps from the chequered flag, “Christo” bringing his Alpinestars/British Car Auctions Dallara-Mercedes home 1.963secs behind race winner Ricciardo.
Riki added: “I overtook van der Zande under braking then lunged down inside of Max [Chilton]. If the race had been a couple of laps longer I’d have been on the tail of Daniel [Ricciardo]. I’m obviously delighted with these two results which moves me up to third in the series. The race pace is there, as the last race especially showed but rest assured, I’ll be working on my race starts before the next races at Rockingham later this month.
“It’s entirely appropriate on my first F3 podium for me thank my father [Rick] for the support he’s given me to date in my career and also Fortec Motorsport, the team I’ve been with since I came into single-seater racing just three seasons ago.”
Silverstone (International Circuit) nr Towcester, N’thants. Rounds 3 & 4
Race 1
Qualifying Pos: 5th (1m 39.929s) Sunny/dry. Race Result: 4th (Cloudy/dry).
Race 2
Qualifying Pos: 3rd (1:39.940) Cloudy/dry. Race Result: 2nd (Cloudy/dry).
2009 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series
1 D. Ricciardo (Aus) 68pts, 2 N. Tandy (GB) 40pts, 3. R. Christodoulou (GB) 39pts, 4. T. Chilton (GB) 37pts, 5. W. Grubmuller (A) 36pts, 6. D. Nakajima (Jap) 34pts. (Provisional standings).
Next races
Rockingham Motor Speedway nr Corby, Northamptonshire. Rds 5 & 6 (31 May).
About Riki Christo
Riki Christodoulou has been racing as long as he can remember. Through karts, Formula Renault and now in 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.
