Racing alongside regular teammates Klaas Hummel and Phil Quaife, the event was a series of thrilling battles on track. Luck appeared to have finally played a fair hand when the No. 82. Ferrari brought home an impressive second place in the GTE-Am class on Sunday, and their first podium finish of the year.

In qualifying, Quaife secured a third place grid position, but it would be Hummel who took the wheel for the first stint of the six hour marathon drive.

Quaife jumped in next, followed by Christodoulou, Quaife again and finally Christodoulou once more to take the chequered flag and finish in second place.

“That result has been a long time coming,” said Adam. “We should have got a podium at Ricard, then at Spa and then at Silverstone but everything that could happen did happen! Today we finally had a race that went to plan. It’s a great result for the team and the best way to finish off the season.”

“This is a fantastic way to end the Le Mans Series season,” said CRS Managing Director Mark Busfield. “We embarked on this series two years ago and it all came together today.”

Joining Christodoulou in the number 82 CRS Ferrari 430 will be his regular team mates Klaas Hummel and Phil Quaife. With fifty cars on the entry list it looks set to be another classic motor race at the famous Formula 1 Grand Prix Circuit.

Reflecting on the so far mixed fortunes of the new McLaren in it’s debut season, an optimistic Christodoulou believes they can strike more success this weekend,

“We fully expect to take a podium finish at Silverstone,” said Adam. “We were right up there in the first three races but for one reason or another we didn’t get the results we wanted. There’s no reason why we can’t be right up there again this weekend and I think we can make it stick.

“Yes, we’ve had a little bad luck but I think it’s time for that to change. All three of us know the track very well and I would like to think we can do well on home soil. Since the Imola round we have all been out racing different cars, including the McLaren GT car. All this extra experience and extra track time will help us when we get behind the wheel of the Ferrari this weekend.”

Free practice sessions will held on Friday, with qualifying on Saturday and the main race event on Sunday at 11.35am.

Testing kicked off at the former Formula One circuit on Thursday with testing in dry conditions. This was Christodoulou’s track debut here, and he reported that the balance of the car seemed to have improved positively since the 24 hours event at Spa a number of weeks ago.

Despite a dry Thursday, Friday was the opposite, and with constant rain it provided the perfect opportunity for tuning the car’s wet setup too.

Saturday’s three hour race followed pre-qualifying and the main qualifying session. Each driver had 15 minutes to get a qualifying lap time, and Christodoulou was out first. On the second lap he had managed to snatch the second fastest time on track, then on the third lap pushed himself to the top of the leader board. With traffic building up ahead, the team decided to conserve tyres and fuel and so eased off the throttle, but with the car performing magnificently, everything was set to make for an excellent day out on track.

Hummel took the wheel for second qualifying, but the session ended early, delivering a frustrating blow to the team as neither he or Kaffer had by this time managed to file a qualifying lap. Regulations stipulate that all three drivers must qualify, and after the corresponding penalty was applied, the car was relegated, and the team had to start from the back row of the grid in a poor 34th position.

At 6.15pm the race began, and Hummel began proceedings with a unbelievable start, ascending the ranks quickly from 34th into 23rd in just the first three laps. A safety car period soon handed the team an additional blessing, and at the 45 minute mark he had climbed to 18th position. But the team’s luck wasn’t to last, and even before Kaffer and Christodoulou got their chance, the car had to retire from the race within the first hour.

It was a terrible disappointment for the whole team. Christodoulou commented after the race, “Everyone is gutted. Looking at our pace, a top five or even a podium finish looked to be a real possibility. The car had so much grip and the speed was fantastic, but it just didn’t work out for us.”

Christodoulou returns to the UK for his next race in the McLaren at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, on October 8th and 9th. However this coming weekend he will also be fitting in one additional race and heading to Austria to the Red Bull Ring to compete in his debut appearance in the Ferrari Challenge.

Like Hamilton, Adam Christodoulou is a British Formula Renault Champion and BRDC award-winner. Early in 2011 Adam began work with McLaren Automotive as a development driver for the new 12C sports car. Its racing equivalent, the 12C GT3, is now well into a rapid development programme and Adam will be driving a car at Magny-Cours today.

As he prepares to pilot the 12C GT3 for the second time in racing, Adam explains what it’s like to take Eau Rouge flat-out and the fantastic opportunity he’s got working on development of two versions of the new 12C.

Q. You raced the 12C GT3 in the Total 24 Hours of Spa in July. Despite the challenges presented by endurance racing, you were able to set a best lap time faster than the 3rd placed driver overall. Were you happy with the performances of you and the car?

I thought the performance of the car was incredible. I’d really like to congratulate McLaren GT for developing a great car in a short amount of time as entering a 24 hours race as part of a development programme is almost unheard of. The 12C GT3’s a real pleasure to drive and after completing a 2 hour stint, I could have continued for that again. You get in the car and you just feel as one.

Q. The 12C GT3 features technology supplied in the 12C sports car and by McLaren in Formula 1. How does that level of technology make an impact when racing at such a demanding circuit?

The traction control works beautifully, the ABS is the best I have felt in a race car and compared to other manufacturers we are able to brake much later thanks to our partners from Formula 1, Akebono. The paddle shift gearbox is almost seamless and with all the controls at your fingertips you can really concentrate on achieving the ultimate lap time.

Q. How is the 12C GT3 responding to the challenges presented by the Magny Cours circuit?

The Magny Cours circuit provides different challenges to Spa. It’s my first time here but because of the amount of grip the car produces it’s really easy to drive. Learning the track has been straight forward and as we proved in testing, there’s been no problem for the team to get on the pace.

Q. How would you describe the opportunity to work with McLaren GT on the development programme of the 12C GT3?

It’s been one of the turning points for my career, for sure. To work with a manufacturer is any racing driver’s dream and who better than McLaren? I’ve been very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. It has been a real eye opener and I’ve learnt so much this year being part of the development programme, seeing what goes on behind the scenes of GT racing and benefiting from nearly 50 years of Formula 1 experience.

Q. You’re also a development driver for McLaren Automotive. How does the 12C sports car stand up to track tests?

I’ve been very lucky to drive a number of pretty exotic super cars over the past few years, but the McLaren 12C is the best handling car I have driven to date. Wherever you point it, it goes. And when you need it to stop, the brakes are just amazing.

Q. What are your personal and team goals for today’s race?

We have proven the car can last 24 hours and today we are racing to be on the podium.

Just missing out on a top-ten class finish at the Total 24 Hours of Spa, Christodoulou was partnered with regular Le Mans series team mate Phil Quaife, as well as Glynn Geddie and Roger Wills in the #60 VonRyan GT3-spec McLaren MP4-12C.

Despite still being at an early stage of its development, Christodoulou and his teammates demonstrated the potential of the car on Thursday by scoring fastest in the first free practice session.Taking eleventh in the Pro-Am class, and 25th overall, the new car showed promising form for McLaren who were making their return to twenty-four hour GT racing for the first time in fifteen years.

Changeable conditions during qualifying generated a succession of red flags, which saw the team beginning in 38th place for Saturday’s race start. However, slick driving quickly moved them into the top ten and twenty-four hours on, they brought the car home intact and with a laudable result.

Christodoulou managed to score the fastest individual lap, taking the 12C GT3 around the circuit in an outstanding lap time of 2:23.214 on lap 256.

Commenting on the team’s impressive performance, Chris Goodwin, McLaren GT executive and McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver said, “The performance of the 12C GT3 and its drivers in car 60 was equally pleasing. Feedback from the team’s engineers and drivers indicates that the 12C GT3 is meeting its reliability and drivability targets.”

As McLaren now looks to develop the car for a full consumer programme in 2012, this key race feedback will help to shape the development of the vehicle in the coming months.

The 12C GT3 is the first race car converted from a McLaren road car to make a 24 hour race debut since the McLaren F1 GTR at Le Mans sixteen years ago, and the welcome return has been long anticipated. Over seventy cars and dozens of manufacturers will be battling out on track to claim the crown at this prestigious 24 hour endurance race.

Also racing in the three McLaren’s this weekend are CRS Racing Team Principal Andrew Kirkaldy and McLaren Automotive Chief Test driver Chris Goodwin. The enterprise is led by McLaren Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh and includes McLaren Racing Head of Vehicle Engineering Mark Williams.

A Director of the new McLaren GT company, Chris Goodwin said: “I’m delighted with the quality of the drivers we have enlisted as we take the 12C GT3 to its first 24 hour race.

“This level of endurance racing is a crucial test for the car technically, and we need the best possible team working with us to ensure we receive intelligent, objective feedback on the 12C GT3 driving experience. We will use this feedback as we continue to develop the car in readiness for customers to go racing next year.”

The race runs from 30th-31st July 2011, starting at 4pm on Saturday, and television coverage will be on Motors TV.

The facilities at the Italian based circuit are world-class, and the track is renowned for it’s enjoyable layout, however a hot and humid testing session was cut short when the weather turned nasty and prevented the team from making critical balance adjustments.

Saturday began with a below-par six-position qualifying (on a 1:46.8 lap), but after reviewing the data and video footage, Christodoulou was confident he could improve on his lap time, and prepared for the main race event.

An over-heating cockpit meant an unexpected penalty just as the car was brought onto the grid, but with no time left to make changes to the insulation before the lights changed, it wasn’t the most promising way to head into the race.

A crowded battle in the first few laps of Christodoulou’s debut at Imola made it an exciting start. The cars ahead were bunched up, and on some of the narrowest parts of the track there were often three abreast through the straights. At the end of the first Christo had managed to muscled up and into 4th place and the car seemed to be handling much better than it had done in practise.

However, when Christodoulou handed over to his team mate, Klass Hummel, the team’s fortune faded quickly, and a tyre blow out brought the car back into the pit lane. Hummel was able to swap his tyres for a fresh set and completed his run, before handing over to third CRS driver, Phil Quaife who was able to claw back some of the time lost in the pits.

Once more Christodoulou took the wheel, and the decision the team had made to try out a different tyre compound seemed to pay off. The car instantly gained stability, and quickly he found himself hot on the heals of the third and fourth placed contenders.

Despite the progress, there was trouble brewing, and race control identified that the cockpit in the car was once again running above the acceptable temperature. Not wishing to be penalised again (or risk disqualification) the team pulled the car back in to the pits for the essential emergency cooling, but the ultimate cost was the race advantage. Back out on track Christodoulou tried to rescue the lost time, but it was too late and the chequered flag placed them in fifth overall.

The result was disheartening for the whole team; it had been yet another race where there had seemed to be a strong chance of a podium result, but unfortunately events had conspired against them, and a much sought-after victory failed to materialise.

The next Le Mans Series race is on British soil at the home motorsport, Silverstone, and happens on September the 9th to 11th. It’s a track that all three drivers know well, and expectations are running high.

Arriving on Wednesday, the queues to main entrance were over five miles long, with over 250,000 spectators expected to attend the race which would start on Saturday afternoon. With just short of 250 cars racing at once, the weekend promised non-stop action.

Partnered with Tim Mullen, Phil Quaife and Andreas Montmann in a BMW GT4, Christodoulou began qualifying in rainy conditions, but despite this, managed to post a class-topping lap time of 9:18.4. This also put the team ahead of Darren Turner’s Aston Martin N24, and Guy Smith’s Nissan 370Z, spotted in 56th place overall, and it was decided that due to the good grid position, participating in Qualifying 2 was an unnecessary risk.

The grid was packed for the race start, and with a 25 minute car-push to the end of the pits, the build up to the 4pm start left the atmosphere electric.

For the first time in Christodoulou’s racing experience at Nürburgring, the 25.3Km track was wet and set to be slippery, with a handful of Porsche World Cup cars already having fallen prey to the track surface in the previous race which had taken place just hours earlier.

Starting with full wet tyre options on, Christodoulou put in his first race stint of the day, stopping only to change to more practical intermediate option tyres, but a by-product of this change was a loss of position. At the end of this first two hours the team was 5th place. Now taking the opportunity to rest, Christodoulou took a break and was able to rejoin the race six hours later in an improved fourth place.

As night set in, visibility was much lower but Christodoulou caught the pack of three cars immediately ahead and despite the conditions and yellow-flags, soon battled back into 2nd place.

But the success was short-lived, and while taking one of the fastest corners on the track, the steering suddenly jammed. Taking action quickly he managed to avoid the barriers and grass by slowing the car down just enough to keep it on track.

The power steering had failed, and from this point on things became difficult. Every turn of the wheel required the weight of the driver’s body behind it, and with five long laps ahead until the end of his stint, things were looking bleak.

Despite this disadvantage, Christodoulou powered on past the leading Aston Martin (still gaining around 25 seconds a lap despite the steering problems) before pulling into the pits in the early hours of the morning to handover and take a second well-deserved rest.

The car had been fine apart from the earlier issue, but news soon came of contact on track which had cost the team a few places, and the car had come back into the pits for repairs, with the power steering had been getting progressively worse.

The Bonk Motorsport engineers slaved away for three hours to resuscitate the car, but by this time any chance of salvaging a result was lost entirely, and the decision was made to retire from the event. It was 7am and the team’s race was over.

Commenting on the valiant effort of the team Christodoulou said, “The whole team were great. They put so much effort in getting the car back on track but once it was over we were all gutted. We had the speed and consistency, and had a strong chance of winning the race in out category, but this time it was not to be. The ‘green hell’ – the Nürburgring 24 hours – got the better of the car.”

“Still the weekend has been an eye opener for me. The big manufacturers and names were racing today, and taking part in this event again is something that I plan on doing next year, and for many years to come”.

Asked about his next race event on the calendar, Christodoulou talked about the Le Mans Series, “I’ll be back in the seat of the CRS Racing team’s Ferrari 430 GT2. We’ll be in North east of Italy at Imola in a 6 hour endurance race where I’ll be gunning for a podium result.”

For live updates from and in the lead up to his races, follow Adam’s progress via Twitter at www.twitter.com/adamchristo

Testing was a little different than usual as we had a number of passenger rides to give to our team sponsors, but we still had plenty of time to refine the race setup before qualifying on Saturday morning.

Having qualifying and the race on Saturday meant it was due to be a big day already, but it also marked the start of the prestigious Le Mans 24 hours race in France, and I was celebrating my 22nd Birthday too – a day on which any driver would be happy to take a trophy home.

The track looked wet in the morning. Tim Mullen (one of my co-drivers, and who will be joining me in the 24 hour race) was first in the car. He completed a few laps and found that it still damp in a number of places, and the pressure was on me as I was told I would only have enough time to get one flying lap in qualifying.

I went out and pushed as hard as I could but had to remain on the side of caution for quite a few of the corners where the trees cast shadows on the track. I could feel the car sliding around more than I would have liked, but I had an extremely clear run and didn’t have to overtake many cars on my one and only lap.

By the time I had got around to the finish line I had nailed the lap in 8:56.3 seconds, and it meant we’d qualified first in class and 26th overall. I also discovered I’d managed to break the old lap record in our category, which was great news as our main competitor had struggled in the damp conditions.

Andreas Montmann started the race for us. Qualifying so far up the ranking might have been tough as we were starting amongst faster cars once again. Despite this, Andréas held his own, and completed his stint as second-in-class, when he handed over to Phil Quaife.

My turn behind the wheel came an hour and 30 minutes before the end. A full stint with a splash and dash of fuel at the end, I had eaten quite a distance into the gap the leaders had built up. Pushing on every corner and straight, I was having to drive the car to it’s limits. With 30 minutes to go our main rival pitted for their last driver change, but I stayed out for another lap. This left us roughly 20 minutes to go and we stole a quick pit stop.

I made it out of the pits just as it started raining. At this point I had a hundred thoughts running through my head; were we in the lead? Where was the other car in our class? How much distance was there between us? And did I need to pit again for wet tyres? The team radioed in confirming that we were indeed in the lead, and that I should continue onto the Nordschleife.

At this point it was starting to get pretty wet. There was a pack of about ten cars in front of me, and I navigated past them all in the tricky conditions just before the team radioed in again, this time to tell me the race had been cut short due to dangerous conditions. The race was over and we had come home with the biggest trophy – First in Class.

This was a perfect result for my birthday. The team had done a great job on the radio and in the pits. All our stops had been faultless, and together we had executed the race perfectly.

With less than ten days to go before we go back to the Nürburgring for the 24 hour event, we are all hopeful to repeat the result next time. Over 250 cars will be starting on the grid, so it’s guaranteed action and one of my toughest races to date. I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on and I’m confident that we have a good chance of a back-to-back win.

For live updates during the 24 hours follow my progress through www.twitter.com/adamchristo

Testing began on Friday afternoon and for the main part went very well, but the weather forecast looked grubby for Saturday’s main race event.

As it turned out, Saturday morning was little cold and damp, but a lot better than we had expected. I was in the car for the qualifying stage and the plan was to do one lap on old tyres to make sure the track wasn’t pooling water, then swap out for new tyres and go for a flying lap.

I completed my first lap in 9 minutes and 1 second, but the red flags came out just as I passed the line and ended the session due to a accident involving another car. We still qualified second in our class, and 66th overall.

Phil was first in the car for the race, and he completed eight laps before handing over to me in. We were in 5th place. The changeover pit stop went smoothly except my radio system didn’t connect correctly; I could hear the team but they couldn’t hear me. Luckily we were able to communicate using a bit of ‘morse code’, with me keying in with the radio to confirm, but I was still unable to speak.

I completed my 8 laps, – a full fuel stint – and handed the car over to Andreas in 2nd position to complete the rest of the 4 hour race. We were slowly catching the leaders but just ran out of time as the race came to an end, crossing the line in 2nd position, and 41st overall.

Our next race is the final four hour event before the Nürburgring 24 hours. With every lap of the Nürburgring we get better and better, so were expecting to climb the last step on the podium shortly, and I’m looking forward to taking our first win at the next race on 11th June.