News

• AWARDS FINALIST! 29th Sep 2008

  This is definitely a good week for Adam Christodoulou. First, he wins the Formula Renault UK title and now he has been shortlisted for the 2008 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. This award is the ultimate prize in British motorsport with the winner receiving a test drive in the McLaren Formula One car, a test in an Aston Martin GT1 car, Puma race kit and a rather large cheque…for £50,000!

  Previous winners include David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Dario Franchitti and CRS’ own Andrew Kirkaldy.  Other past winners, Anthony Davidson and Darren Turner, form part of the judging panel, joined by Steve Hallam who is McLaren’s Head of Race Operations, veteran commentator Ian Titchmarsh and Autosport journalists Marcus Pye and Kevin Turner.

  Adam will take part in a two-day evaluation at Snetterton where, along with the other five finalists, he will drive a single-seater race car, a DTM Mercedes and an Aston Martin N24.

  Obviously everyone at CRS will be rooting for Adam when the winner is announced at the Autosport Awards on December 7th in London.

• CHRISTO IS THE CHAMPION! 29th Sep 2008

  CR Scuderia is delighted to announce that Adam Christodoulou is the 2008 Formula Renault UK Champion! After winning the Graduate Cup in 2007, Adam set his sights on the Championship crown for 2008 and, after a stellar season, he has done it.

  A fifth place finish in the second of today’s two races at Brands Hatch was sufficient to tie up the title as Adam already has seven race wins under his belt in 2008.

  Like previous Formula Renault Champions before him – Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton - Adam is planning on going all the way to Formula One and winning this Championship is an important step on the way to the top.

  “It’s very hard to know what to say,” said an emotional Adam after the race. “It’s certainly a good feeling and definitely a relief to have finally done it. This has been a two year programme and I’m delighted that all the work has paid off. It has been a pleasure racing with CR Scuderia. Andrew (Kirkaldy), Paul (Jackson), Mark (Bateman) and of course Chris (Niarchos) have all shown great support and passion and that’s what a driver needs to help win a Championship. I am very grateful to them all.”

  “It’s fantastic to win this Championship,” said CRS Team Director Andrew Kirkaldy. “Adam is our first Champion and I am absolutely delighted for him. He has worked incredibly hard all year, so much so that all he had to do here was to race sensibly. It is brilliant for the whole team as everyone has worked very hard this year to get to this point.”

  Commenting on Adam’s Championship win, CRS Team Principal Chris Niarchos said: “The quality of Adam’s driving is truly astonishing. His talent, his maturity and sheer hard work have led to this Championship win and I applaud him for his achievement. The change in Adam over the last 18 months is remarkable; mentally he is further ahead than ever before and I think that has helped him a great deal this year. He has become the team’s most fastidious student, coming to our GT races to learn as much as he can about this business. We want to congratulate him on his win; he thoroughly deserves it!”

• Down to the wire 3rd Sep 2008

  The 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship will be decided in three weeks time at Brands Hatch. CR Scuderia’s Adam Christodoulou finished race one at Silverstone this morning in a strong second place but was forced to retire from race two after being hit at the first corner.

  “I was alongside Jordan Oakes going into turn one,” said Adam. “He veered across and hit my front wheel, spinning me around in front of everyone. I was hoping the car was undamaged but the steering rack was broken and all I could do was go straight on at the next corner and then become a spectator!”

  
  The final two rounds of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship take place at Brands Hatch on 21 September.
  

• Christodoulou Cruises To Double Victory 30th Jul 2008

  Adam Christodoulou stamped his mark on the Formula Renault UK Championship today with two perfectly-executed wins at Oulton Park. The CR Scuderia driver now leads the Championship by a large margin, and is in a great position going into the last two events of the 2008 season.

  In race one Adam got a great start off the line and immediately took the lead, whilst his closest Championship-challenger, Riki Christodoulou, crashed out at the first corner. Adam stayed in P1 to the chequered flag, taking his sixth win of the season so far. Scott had qualified well in seventh place and was able to take advantage of a good starting position and race through to a fifth place finish. Jesse picked up a puncture when Riki Christodoulou went off so had to pit for fresh rubber and Ryuji came home in 15th.

  Adam got away well again in race two and settled into the race in second place behind Dean Stoneman. He took the lead when Stoneman had to serve a drive-through penalty for jumping the start. Scott had a fantastic start from 10th, taking three places straight away, and was running sixth towards the end of the race when he passed Adriano Buzaid around the outside of turn one, taking fifth place from the Brazilian. Ryuji unfortunately outbraked himself on lap two and ran into Jesse, ending the race for both drivers.

  Adam Christodoulou:
  “We came here thinking that out of the last three circuits this would be our weakest. So to leave with an even bigger lead in the Championship is amazing. I qualified in second place for both races but, as the grid isn’t staggered at Oulton, I knew I had a good chance to take the lead at the start. I managed it in race one but Dean (Stoneman) got a better start than me in race two. When I saw the penalty board come out for no.7 I didn’t realise who it was at first so I was quite happy when I realised it was Dean. I felt bad for him of course but I got the lead and was able to take it from there all the way to the flag. So, considering what we expected, this has been a brilliant weekend. We worked hard and made no mistakes and leave here with a 55 point lead over (Alexander) Sims. We’re into the closing stages of the Championship now and I’m pleased that it’s all going in the right direction.

  CRS Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy:
  “It has been an awesome weekend for the team. We didn’t expect to be too fast here so to come away with two wins is phenomenal. Scott has improved again since Snetterton and has taken two very good results. Jesse showed a lot of promise throughout the weekend but was a bit unlucky in both races; first picking up a puncture in race one and then being taken out in race two. Ryuji is on a bit of a downward turn at the moment but we hope to turn him back around for the last two events. Adam came here with a good lead in the Championship and leaves with an even bigger lead so he is now well on his way and I couldn’t be happier for him.”

  The Formula Renault UK Championship continues in five weeks’ time at Silverstone on 30/31 August.

• Double podium for Christodoulou at Silverstone GP 10th Jun 2008

  Adam Christodoulou strengthened his title hopes by taking two stunning podium places in rounds 11 and 12 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Silverstone on Sunday, 8th June. On a day when 80,000 spectators were in attendance for the free World Series by Renault event at the Grand Prix circuit, the 18-year-old driver took two well deserved consecutive second places to retain his lead in the championship by 44 points over nearest rival Adriano Buzaid.

  At the start to round 11, Adam got away well away with a daring move on the first corner moving up to second from third on the grid ahead of James Calado.

  As the front runners pulled away, Adam fought hard to match leader Buzaid for pace as he continued to edge away, building a lead of only one tenth of a second.

  By lap 12, Adam had managed to gain slightly on Buzaid as the Brazilian was in the lead. As Buzaid began the final lap, his lead was just more than one second and Adam and third placed Calado were clear of each other, their positions remained unchanged leaving Adam a victorious second and his first podium of the weekend.

  The start of round 12 saw Adam immediately speared into second place behind Buzaid with his cousin Riki Christodoulou following him through into third ahead of Calado. By the chequered flag Adam was able to secure another convincing second position ahead of Alexander Sims. Adam leaves Silverstone with a healthy 44 point lead ahead of his rivals.

  Commenting after the race, Adam said: “In the first race, Adriano got the jump early on and made a bit of a break. Although I was still feeling good in the second half of the race, Adriano was just able to take the win with me very close in second.

  “In race two, I tried to make a move on Adriano on the first lap but, just like the first race, he was able to get away early on and my tyres wore out too much to challenge him. It’s still looking good overall for the championship and that’s my main focus.”

  Rounds 10, 13 and 14 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship take place at Norfolk’s Snetterton circuit on 12th/13th July. The postponed round 10, originally due to be held at Croft, will also be held at Snetterton on Saturday.

• Christodoulou Crowned Croft Champ 3rd Jun 2008

  Teenage racing driver Adam Christodoulou shrugged off a difficult day to win round nine of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit on Sunday, 1st June. Torrential rain during the day led to the race being delayed several times but the 18-year-old kept his cool to win his fifth race of the season in the championship previously won by Kimi Räikkönen (2000) and Lewis Hamilton (2003).
   
  The delays in the timetable of the British Touring Car Championship meeting, where Formula Renault UK is a supporting series, mean round 10 has been postponed and is now scheduled to be held on Saturday, 12th July at Snetterton circuit. Rounds 13 and 14 will then be held on Sunday, 13th July.
   
  In stark contrast to the atrocious weather on Sunday, the two 20-minute qualifying sessions on Saturday, 31st May were held in scorching conditions. Due to tyre wear at the 2.13-mile circuit, each driver had a small optimum window in which to set their fastest lap time. In the first session, Adam piloted his CR Scuderia Formula Renault car to Michelin pole position with a time of 1min 17.497s (98.71mph), just 0.167s ahead of Alexander Sims. Adam then took fourth on the grid for round 10, which will be his starting place when the race is eventually held.
   
  Although the Croft circuit had been deluged by rain earlier in the day, a dry racing line allowed all drivers to start the race on slick tyres. Adam led away from pole position ahead of Sims and his cousin Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield). After a short Safety Car spell, Sims closed up on Adam under braking for Tower Bend at the restart but was unable to get alongside to overtake.
   
  With the top three evenly matched on pace and only one dry line available, there was little chance of overtaking as they lapped in almost identical times throughout the 15-lap race. A minor slip by Sims at the Complex on lap 10 saw Adam’s lead increase by 0.2s and he added a further tenth of a second on lap 12 before Sims hit back to reduce the gap to half a second once again as the game of cat and mouse continued.
   
  The last lap began with Adam holding a 0.521s advantage over Sims. At the end of the race the margin of 0.502s was representative of how evenly matched the pair had been throughout, with Adam taking his fifth lights-to-flag win of the season.
   
  Commenting on the race, which was shown live on ITV4 as part of the channel’s BTCC coverage, Adam said: “It felt like such a long race because there was just no getting away from Alexander and Riki. There was only half a car’s width either side of the main racing line and I did have a couple of moments on the first lap where I nearly ran into trouble but luckily kept it together. It’s great to get another win and it’s good for the overall championship position.”
   
  The Formula Renault UK Championship teams and drivers have just three rest days before their next track action, which is free practice ahead of rounds 11 and 12 at Silverstone Grand Prix circuit as part of World Series by Renault. The free motorsport festival takes place on 7th/8th June at the Northamptonshire venue, where today’s Formula Renault UK drivers hope to race later in their careers.

• Adam Christodoulou takes fourth win of 2008 28th May 2008

  CR Scuderia’s Adam Christodoulou said he would be back on top at Thruxton this weekend and he wasn’t joking. The 18 year-old was blindingly fast in qualifying, taking pole position for both races. He converted his first pole into a win in race one but was penalised in race two when he was deemed to have jumped the start. He continues to lead the Formula Renault UK Championship with a 13-point lead and 4 convincing wins from 8 races.

  Adam Christodoulou:
  “Qualifying was spot on at Thruxton; the car handled like a dream, the team did their job, I did mine and we couldn’t have asked for a better result. All I had to do then was finish it off with two race wins. I got away okay at the start of race one and managed to keep Riki (Christodoulou) behind me all the way to the chequered flag. I inched forward very slightly in race two and soon got the call that I had jumped the start. I guess they watch you like hawks when you are on pole and those couple of inches were enough for a penalty. The marshals called me in to serve my drive-thru penalty but the safety car had just come out so I had to wait even longer in the pitlane to get the green light. I then had to go back a few laps later and serve it all over again as I had come in while the safety car was out! There isn’t a lot you can do after losing so much time as you can’t get anywhere near the points. I took fastest lap though and broke the lap record too that helped the points situation a bit. I’m still leading and I’m going to Croft in two weeks confident of some good results.”

• Christo Cruising To Title 16th Apr 2008

  Rising star Adam Christodoulou is remaining cautious about his prospects of winning the Formula Renault UK title despite opening up at 31 point lead in the standings after just 4 of 20 races.

  The CR Scuderia driver raced to two dominant pole positions to chequered flag victories at Rockingham Motor Speedway last weekend and broke the lap records in both events.

• Double 1-2 At Rockingham 15th Apr 2008

  CR Scuderia’s Adam Christodoulou had a dream race weekend at Rockingham taking pole position, fastest lap and victory in both races. The icing on the cake was provided by Ryuji Yamamoto whose second place finish in both races gave the team a double one-two result.

  Adam got away well from pole position in race one and Ryuji got a great start away from third, coming around at the end of lap one in second place. Adam then set about extending his lead, controlling the pace of the race, while the battles behind him continued. Adam duly took his third win of the season, very closely followed by Ryuji.

• Hat-Trick As Adam Christodoulou Dominates Again 15th Apr 2008

  Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) completed a third straight win from Michelin pole position, breaking his own lap record in the process, in round four of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship on Sunday, 13th April. The CR Scuderia Formula Renault ace ends a perfect weekend at Rockingham International circuit with a 31-point lead over team-mate Ryuji Yamamoto (Milton Keynes) in the drivers’ standings.

  Yamamoto finished second in round four ahead of Adam’s cousin Riki Christodoulou (Sutton Coldfield) of Fortec Motorsport, who is also third overall in the drivers’ standings.