Monthly Archives: January 2018

11

Jan 2018

Christodoulou returns to Dubai with ProSPORT

Posted By Adam Christodoulou / AMG, Dubai, Endurance, Race Update / AMG, Career, Dubai / No Comments

Adam Christodoulou will kick start his busy 2018 racing calendar at the 24H Dubai this weekend (January 12-13), teaming up with the German ProSPORT; he returns after a year away at the wheel   with the team in the newly-acquired Mercedes-AMG GT3, which will wear the No. 85 and be entered in the A6-AM class. .

Christodoulou has a faultless record finishing on the podium three times in each of his last three starts at the event and charged from 98th on the grid to finish second in 2016.
 
The 28-year-old AMG driver, became the third Briton to win the Nurburgring 24 Hours in 2016 and last year finished second at the Daytona 24 Hours; Adam last raced for ProSPORT at Bathurst two years ago, but has continued to work with team boss Chris Esser as a driver coach and strategist, so was the natural choice to lead the team step up to the GT3 ranks for the first time.

“It’s great to be back at Dubai and racing with ProSPORT, a team I’ve been lucky enough to work and race with since 2012 as a driver, strategist and driver coach,” said Christodoulou.

“In our very first race we finished 3rd in the Nurburgring 24 hours, eventually going on to win the European GT4 teams’ and drivers’ championship in 2013, with multiple wins in the VLN championship and many other races over the years.
 
“I’m really looking forward to being a part of their new AMG GT3 programme, it’s going to be a new challenge for the team but we’re all excited to see what we can do.”

Christodoulou will be joined by 24H Series regulars Joe Foster, Charlie Putnam and Charles Espenlaub, the American trio making their third attempt at Dubai after two previous outings in the 991 class.

Christodoulou is optimistic the team can challenge for a podium finish in a competent  A6-AM class featuring six other Mercedes-AMG GT3s, however, knows that caution will be just as great a virtue as outright speed if the team is to reach the finish on Saturday afternoon in one piece; 94 cars will start on the grid sharing the tight and twisting 5.39km Dubai Autodrome, including Porsche Cup, GT4, TCR and Clio Cup machinery.
 
“It’s always tough at Dubai due to the amount of cars, this year there will be 26 GT3 cars and a huge entry list of 94 cars in total, so we are going straight in at the deep end for ProSPORT’s first outing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3,” he said.

“The team has great spirit and knowledge of the circuit, having worked with all three of my American team mates before I know the speed and consistency is there, but you always have to be realistic in 24 hour races. Anything can happen, but with a little bit of luck, we’ll be fighting at the end of the 24 hours for our first GT3 podium.”

Christodoulou, who will also contest the Daytona 24 Hours in January (27-28) will confirm his full 2018 programme with AMG in due course.

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05

Jan 2018

Christodoulou targeting victory at Daytona 24

Posted By Adam Christodoulou / Daytona, Endurance, Team Update / Daytona, Mercedes / No Comments

Adam Christodoulou has set his sights on victory in the GTD class, ahead of his return to the Daytona International Speedway for the highlight of the American endurance racing calendar, the Rolex 24 at Daytona (January 27-28).

Last year the AMG driver returned to Daytona where the car led 108 laps in the Mercedes-AMG GT3’s US debut finishing third on the podium, just 5.6 seconds off the winner, so this year Adam is determined to put memories of the narrow defeat to bed in the first round of the 2018 IMSA Sportscar Championship.
Christodoulou returns to a largely unchanged Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports line-up alongside Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen, joined by Luca Stolz as the fourth driver; the Briton’s team-mate in last season’s Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

Adam said; “I’m delighted to be invited back to Daytona with Mercedes-AMG Team Riley

“We had a great debut last year for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and we had the possibility of winning the race going into the final hour, so I’m looking forward to pushing ustwo places better and win some nice shiny watches!
“I’ve been lucky to race with Luca for the entire 2017 season in the Blancpain Endurance season, he’s a talented and fast but precise driver, so I’m confident we’ve got a bullet-proof line-up that can fight for the win again

“I’m expecting us to be at the sharp end and be the best American AMG Team out there. If there’s anybody that you can rely on to do the perfect job, it’s the Riley boys.”
Keating, who is the team’s mandated Bronze-graded driver, set the foundations for victory last year with a superb triple stint from the start of the race, Christodoulouis confident that the Texan will again prove to be the team’s ace in the pack;

“Ben was amazing last year, he qualified the car for us, we threw him straight into the deep end and he smashed out a triple-stint from the start of the race putting us into a strong position

“He’s got to be one of the fastest, if not the fastest AMdriver out there, so I’m looking forward to working with him again.”

Preparations start with the Roar before the 24 this weekend as Christodoulou re-familiarises himself with the intricacies of the 5.73 km layout, part of which uses the famed Daytona banking.
The 28-year-old first raced at Daytona in the Grand-AM series in 2011, finishing sixth in a SpeedSource-prepared MazdaRX-8, and has since seen the event grow into one of the biggest in the world; with the likes of two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, former F1 racer Paul di Restaand reigning European F3 champion Lando Norris all set to make their endurance racing debuts in the LMP2 class.

Christodoulou concluded; “It is a very special event, it’s one that everyone wants to be involved with and it’s on every drivers bucket lists

“There’s some massive names that are going to be involved this year and that’s brilliant because you always want to compare yourself against the best in the business.”

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