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Riki Christodoulou has returned to the race track for the first time in 2012, competing in his first ever GT race over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend with Team WFR.

The Sutton Coldfield based driver raced at Oulton Park in the kick-off event of the British GT Championship. With only a brief opportunity to test the car two weeks ago, his return was a rapid step back into the world of professional competition driving in a series that pitches drivers against opponents in Porsches, Ferraris, BMW’s and Aston Martins.

Frustrating problems left the team without traction control and ABS over the weekend which would prove to be a hinderance, but Riki was optimistic, “The team and I were learning more about the car each time I went out on track this weekend. In the dry qualifying I was able to put some really good times in, but even so, we were still 2 seconds off the Porsche.”

Poor weather meant the two Bank Holiday Monday races were a wet and wild washout. Riki’s teammate Jody Firth started race one in their Ginetta G55 GT3, but bad conditions resulted in an bad start and the car ended up towards the back of the pack. An anxious Riki waited in the garage for 30 minutes – the first half of the race – waiting for his first chance to take the wheel. A newcomer to GT style racing he remarked, ”It is a weird feeling being involved in a race but not actually starting it, there’s nothing you can do until it’s your turn to take control of the car.”

For race two Riki got his chance to start a race. The heavens opened once more, and it meant he experienced his first ever rolling start in GT series, ”When I raced in single seaters the spray that came from underneath the car was really bad but this was on another level! I couldn’t see anything but faint brake lights for about 15 minutes, all that was in front of me was pure white mist.

“Apart from not being able to see, I really enjoyed driving in the wet. The other cars had a technical advantage over us with our lack ofABS and traction control, so I just did my job and brought the car home for the team, enjoying the experience of being back in a race seat again.”

Upon completing the days racing Riki commented, ”Overall I really enjoyed my first race in the GTs. It’s a new challenge and one which I’m looking forward to working hard for and building upon in the coming months.”

Riki and Jody Finished 14th and 16th in the two races respectively, and expect to improve quickly as the season progresses. The next race is at the Nurburgring in Germany on the 19th of May. For updates, follow Riki on Twitter, @RikiChristo.

Category: News