“Christo” Consolidates Top-Six Place In F3 Championship Standings
18th Aug 2009
Riki Christodoulou remains sixth in the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series following races at Silverstone today (Sun 16 Aug).
The 21-year-old from Sutton Coldfield registered eighth and sixth place finishes in the two, 30-minute races around the 2.249-mile “International” track.
Starting race one from eighth place on the 22-car grid, Riki maintained position to the chequered flag but in the later second race, moved up three places from ninth on the grid to finish sixth and “top Brit” in his Alpinestars and British Car Registrations sponsored Dallara-Mercedes – his best result since winning at Snetterton in early July.
“The second race was exciting and eventful – the complete opposite of the opener,” confirmed Riki. “Race one was processional and boring but race two was very lively. I initially got away very well but then the engine stalled. I dropped the clutch and somehow the engine fired back up but the problem had dropped me to 11th going in to the first corner.
“I made a couple of good overtaking moves and actually completed lap one in eighth and ultimately came home sixth. I had a race-long dice with [Carlos] Huertas and got past him a couple of times, including on the last lap, but the Columbian was pretty aggressive in defending the position. We couldn’t extract the outright speed from the car all weekend but it’s more points on the board in terms of the championship.”
Riki’s penultimate event of the season is at the new 2.92 mile, 18-corner Autodrómo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal next month (13 Sep) – a $250 million facility built in October 2008.
“I tested an F3 car there last December, completing a lot of laps – it’s a mega track and I can’t wait to race there,” concluded “Christo”.
“There’s now almost a one month break before the next races. I’ll be working very hard on my physical fitness in the gym during this period so that I’m in top shape. I’m targeting a top-four championship finish in my maiden F3 season and with only four races remaining, I’ll be pushing hard for maximum points.”
Silverstone nr Towcester, Rds 15 & 16
Race 1
Qualifying Pos: 8th (1:15.442) Dry/Overcast. Race Result: 8th (Dry/sunny).
Race 2
Qualifying Pos: 9th (1:15.927) Dry/Cloudy. Race Result: 6th (Dry/sunny).
Next Race
Autodrómo Internacional do Algarve , Portimão , Portugal (13 Sep).
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.
