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Still on top after 5th and
6th results in 4th and 5th
Rounds five and six of the 2008 Formula Renault UK
Championship turned out to be tough for the CR Scuderia team but,
despite not notching up any more wins, the team leaves Donington
tonight still leading both the drivers and teams championships.
The mild weather brought a few showers to Donington today but the
Renault runners got away lightly with no sudden changes in the weather
during their two races. Adam Christodoulou got a good start in race
one, jumping from sixth to fourth before setting off after
third-placed Henry Surtees, passing him at the start of lap three.
Ryuji Yamamoto was hit on the first lap and forced to retire as he
came past the pits. Scott Jenkins and Sten Pentus were both making
good progress from their 12th and 19th grid positions with Scott up to
ninth and Sten up to 12th by lap five. At the chequered flag Adam was
in fourth, after losing a place to Kris Loane, Scott was a creditable
seventh and Sten was 12th.Race two began
on a slightly slippery track and nearly all of the CR Scuderia drivers
lost out at the start, all apart from Sten who held onto 13th. Ryuji
slipped from third to fifth, Adam fell back to 11th and Scott had a
spin which put him right to the back. It was time for the fight back
to begin.
By lap 10 Adam was up to seventh, Ryuji was ninth, Sten 11th and Scott
was flying in 15th place after setting his first fastest lap of 2008.
They all improved further and Adam came home in fifth, taking more
precious championship points. Ryuji finished in eighth place, closely
followed by Sten in ninth and Scott in 13th.
Adam Christodoulou:
“After the test on Thursday I thought I would do better in qualifying
than I actually did. After the first session I thought it couldn’t get
any worse…but then it did! Once qualifying doesn’t go to plan damage
limitation kicks in and I knew I had to play safe and go for solid
points finishes in both races. Race two was tough for me as I
overheated the clutch doing practice starts so it was really hard to
get off the line and I lost a few places. I knew I had to redeem
myself so set about overtaking a few guys. A fourth and a fifth place
is okay for our bogey track. Our pre-season testing at Thruxton went
really well so I hope we’ll be back on top in a couple of weeks.”
Ryuji Yamamoto:
“I got hit in race one which was very disappointing. In race two, two
cars got past me at the start so I had to fight hard which was tricky
as the track was slippery. This hasn’t been a great weekend but I will
stay positive and look forward to Thruxton in two weeks time.”
Sten Pentus:
“I had quite a difficult time in qualifying and I have got to improve
that as low grid positions seriously compromise the rest of the
weekend. The car felt good in both races so once I’ve mastered
qualifying things will be a lot better.”
Scott Jenkins:
“I had a good start in race one and had the pace to get through some
of the traffic. Race two also started well but then I made an error,
trying a different line through the second to last corner, got a wheel
on the dirt and spun around. I was pretty angry with myself for that
but it seemed to do the trick and I was able to get my head down and
make up a lot of places. I really enjoyed it as the car felt perfect
and I was able to really go for it.”
CRS Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy:
“Donington was a difficult weekend for the team; I would love to know
why we always seem to have a tough time there! Even though things
didn’t go well we still leave the circuit with a very similar lead in
the championship. I am very confident going to Thruxton and I am sure
we can continue our bid to win the championship.”
RACE 1 RESULT:
4 Adam Christodoulou
7 Scott Jenkins
12 Sten Pentus
DNF Ryuji Yamamoto
RACE 2 RESULT:
5 Adam Christodoulou
8 Ryuji Yamamoto
9 Sten Pentus
13 Scott Jenkins
DOUBLE ONE-TWO
FOR CR SCUDERIA!
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 second win of the season, very closely followed by Ryuji. Scott
Jenkins made good progress from 14th on the grid up to 11th and Sten
Pentus finished just behind him in 12th place.
Race two was a lights-to-flag victory for Adam and another cruise to
second for Ryuji. Scott was unlucky to have a car spin in front of him
on the opening lap which left him with nowhere to go but out of the race
and Sten finished just outside the top ten in 11th place.
Speaking after race one yesterday, Adam said: "It's great to build my
lead and for the team to get a one-two. I managed to get a gap over
Ryuji in the first couple of laps and although I had a slight 'moment'
when I ran wide, I managed to keep a consistent pace in the second half
of the race."
After today's race a delighted Adam said: "I worked hard during the
race to build up a safety gap and I'm very happy to get such a fantastic
set of results. The pressure's on now to keep it up at the next event
but I'm going to get my head down and make sure I do everything right. I
wasn't a massive fan of this circuit last year but I love Rockingham
now!"
Ryuji Yamamoto added: "I'm very happy with the results this weekend.
It feels very good to be on the podium, especially twice. My thanks to
the team for making my car very easy to drive."
CRS Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy, was delighted with the
performance of the team at Rockingham. "I really couldn't have asked for
more from Adam. He has had a fantastic weekend and to top it off he
broke the lap record in yesterday's race and then broke his own record
in the race today. He now has a big lead in the championship so I
couldn't be happier. Ryuji too had a great weekend. His first podium
came yesterday and then he did it all again today. He is showing
fantastic speed and I hope we can keep up the momentum as we are on a
roll now."
The 2008 Formula Renault title battle continues at CR Scuderia's
local circuit, Donington Park, in three weeks' time.
Christodoulou takes stylish first win
The second Formula
Renault race at Brands Hatch on Sunday produced a stylish first win for
CR Scuderia’s Adam Christodoulou. The 2007 Graduate Cup winner’s serene
drive demonstrated how far he has come in the last 12 months. He leaves
Brands Hatch tonight as the overall Championship leader after the first
two rounds of the 2008 season.
“It was very important for me to get a clean start from pole position,”
said Adam. “I kept it cool and pushed hard for the first few laps to try
and build up a safety margin. Once I had that I could inch away
bit-by-bit and after that I just had to maintain my rhythm, make no
mistakes, and bring it home. It’s a
great feeling to win and I
leave Brands Hatch a very happy man!”
The
new season began yesterday morning with the first qualifying session.
Adam was disappointed to qualify in fifth place after running in first
for most of the session and vowed to put that right in session two,
which he duly did when he stuck his car on pole. The star of the first
qualifying session was Scott Jenkins who qualified P3 in his first race.
Sten Pentus lined up just behind Adam and Ryuji Yamamoto qualified P10.
The second qualifying session put Adam on pole, Ryuji and Scott in eight
and ninth places, and Sten in 12th.
After the tricky wet-dry conditions on Saturday the weather stayed
mainly dry today with only a few drops of rain. As the cars came around
on their second warm up lap at Brands this morning (the drivers all got
an extra warm-up lap as the track conditions had changed since
qualifying) Sten Pentus peeled into the pits with a problem with his
gears and frustratingly had to sit out the first race. On the track the
pole man stuttered at the start which forced Scott to swerve around him
on his way to Paddock Hill Bend. As the race settled down Adam ran in
third with Scott behind him in fourth, positions they would both keep
until the end of the race. Ryuji meanwhile was storming through from
eighth to sixth and spent the last few laps hunting down Chris Loane for
fifth. The pair crossed the line in a thrilling photo finish with Loane
just getting it, this time.
In race two Adam got away cleanly whilst behind him the pack shuffled
with Ryuji gaining two places up to sixth, Sten jumping from 12th to
10th and Scott losing ground a little to fall to 11th. After a brief
safety car period Scott recovered to 10th and Ryuji was on the move
again in a great manoeuvre through turn one that saw him take fifth
place, his final finishing position. Although Adam was making it look
very easy he was fully lit, breaking the lap record set by last year’s
Champion, Duncan Tappy, by four tenths of a second.
Scott Jenkins, who is still only 16 years-old, thoroughly enjoyed his
first weekend of racing with CR Scuderia.
“I’m happy with fourth place in race one but not with the 10th I got in
race two,” he said. “I was starting to struggle with the car a bit in
race two as the rear end was starting to slide so I had to concentrate
hard to get to the end. I need to keep working hard to get some good
results this year but I have really enjoyed this weekend and can’t wait
for the next one.”
Ryuji’s driving kept the crowd entertained today at a track where
overtaking is notoriously difficult.
“I’m very happy to have had a solid start to the championship,” he said.
“The second race was a lot harder than the first but I really enjoyed
the battles I had and I know this will be a good season for me.”
After sitting out race one, Sten Pentus finished race two in 11th place,
which was not where he wanted to be.
“Of course I’m not happy with my first weekend,” said Sten. “It is
incredibly difficult to overtake here at Brands so qualifying position
was very important. It was okay in the first session but then I was
unable to start race one. These things happen so now I will look towards
the next races and hope for a better weekend next time.”
“Adam did an excellent job,” commented CRS Team Director, Andrew
Kirkaldy. “He is our most experienced driver, we expect the best from
him and he delivered that this weekend. Ryuji was superb in both races;
we need to work on improving his qualifying performance because then he
could be winning races. Scott was very good in the first qualifying
session and the first race. He lost out a bit for the second grid but
this will all come with experience and he was generally very good this
weekend. Sten had a disappointing weekend where things didn’t go his way
but he will be strong going forward.”
CR Scuderia has now won a race at its first British GT meeting and won a
race at its first Formula Renault meeting. The pressure’s now on for the
FIA GT boys!
Race 1 Result:
3 Adam Christodoulou
4 Scott Jenkins
5 Ryuji Yamamoto
DNS Sten Pentus
Race 2 Result:
1 Adam Christodoulou
5 Ryuji Yamamoto
10 Scott Jenkins
11 Sten Pentus
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