Christodoulou Makes up Championship Ground on the Streets of Trois-Rivieres, Canada

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Making his first appearance on a temporary street circuit Adam Christodoulou experienced a weekend full of ups and downs yet still managed to make up ground on points leader Peter Dempsey in Round Ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear for the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivieres.

Driving the #11 Molecule Labs JDC Motorsports Mazda, the UK native started the weekend on a lofty note after topping the opening practice session on the 1.521-mile circuit. “The 1st session on the Friday went surprisingly well, at 1st it was a bit daunting knowing that there is very little room for error, it’s a bit like the oval scenario, if you make a mistake then there’s a nice concrete wall to support you either side of the track,” Adam explained. “I took my time getting to know the place before I started pushing, at the end of session one I was battling it out for fastest lap, we put new tires on and we topped the charts.”

After going over data and making a few changes to the car, Christodoulou would post the second fastest time in the final practice session of the weekend. “The 2nd session went really well, ending up second in the standings. I was happy with my pace and I knew that it was going to be close in qualifying.”

Hopes of a pole run were dashed in qualifying when a red flag was brought out as championship points leader Dempsey made contact with the wall under the Arch corner as Christodoulou was preparing to set his flying laps. “At the start of qualifying I was 2nd out the pits and the drivers in the previous qualifying session were already producing times quicker than testing, so I knew the pace was going to be quick. We chose to go out on old tires for the start of the qualifying to get a base line before we put on new tires but unfortunately things didn’t quite go to plan,” Adam revealed.

“Unfortunately for me, my main rivals made contact, causing one of them to have a puncture putting him in the wall. By the time the track was cleared qualifying was finished. I wasn’t happy with qualifying, because I knew I had the pace to be on the front row but I was left in fourth position for the start of the race.”

Sunday’s championship battle started on pre-grid as Dempsey’s team failed to get his car to pre-grid on time, forcing him to start from pit lane while the rest of the field moved up a position. Christodoulou would rocket off of the standing start to jump into the lead by the second corner but an opening lap incident further back in the field would force him back into third place. ”Because we hadn’t completed the lap I had to give back the positions I had made up at the start, putting me back to 3rd. I felt robbed. It was an extremely close race, there was a group of 6 cars all battling it out trying to get ahead of each other.”

Fighting an engine that was down on power in the closing laps Christodoulou was hanging on in third place when a restart on the closing laps presented an opportunity to gain another position. As the green flag came out on the final lap Christodoulou sought to move into second place.

“There were only minutes to spare before the chequered flag dropped and we had one last restart with one lap to go, I tried a move for 2nd place, but couldn’t pull it off allowing 2 cars past. I couldn’t believe it, I had 3rd place and I made a minor error moving me back to 5th, I attempted to make at least one place up but the chequered flag was out and the race was over. The racing was so close and it showed. If anyone made a slight error they paid for it losing positions or not finishing.”

“I had mixed emotions after the race, I was annoyed I didn’t make it on the podium, but I was happy to finish the race and I gained valuable points in the championship so that there is only a 10 point difference in the championship now with 3 rounds to go,” Adam said. “And for Trois-Rivieres itself the atmosphere was unbelievable, the crowds were packed, there were plenty of activities going on during the day and evenings of the race weekend.”

The series now heads to Mosport International Raceway in Ontario, Canada, for Round Eleven of the Championship on August 27-29.

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Christodoulou Pips Dempsey to Pole in Practice One of the 40th GP3R

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Trois Rivierès, Quebec (August 14, 2009) – Englishman Adam Christodoulou, currently second in the 2009 Star Mazda presented by Goodyear championship battle, put his #11 JDC Motorsports / Molecule / Alpinestars Mazda at the top of the time sheets in today’s first practice session for this weekend’s 40th running of the GP3R at Trois Rivierès. His lap of 1:01.901 sec. was just 0.090-sec quicker than Irishman Peter Dempsey’s fast lap in the #3 Juncos Racing / HOOTERS / Motorsport Ireland / Queyside.ie Mazda. Christodoulou is currently second in the championship battle with two wins and Dempsey has dominated the mid-part of the season with a string of four wins in a row and leads the championship. Third on the time sheet was Scandinavian racer Anders Krohn (winner at the Milwaukee Mile oval) with a lap of 1:03.658-sec. in his #27 Mundill / Trallfa / Colosseum Mazda.

“It’s quite an experience when you first go out; it being my first street course it’s quite daunting, realizing that if you make even the slightest mistake you’re in the wall… it’s like an oval that way.” says Christodoulou. “Of course there’s a lot more braking involved and a few more corners. The JDC team has been doing some pretty intensive testing the last week and I think this results shows that. We still have to carry on working, and I have a little bit of time to find in myself and I’m sure we’ll be able to find an extra tenth or two within the setup of the car itself; so long as we stay at the top it should be a good weekend. The crowning of the track is quite challenging, and plays a big part in how the car handles and how you have to set it up. With the corners you have to imagine that you can see through the walls to where the exits of the corners are. I think there’s definitely time to find, especially in the first corner where I wasn’t using the full amount of the track.”

Rounding out the top-5 were Englishman Richard Kent, another race winner this season (at New Jersey Motorsports Park) posted the 4th-fast time of 1:03.897-sec. in the #33 Andersen Racing / Traka Allied Interior Products Mazda. Venezuelan racer Jorge Goncalvez was 5th-fast in the #72 AIM Autosport / Mazda with a lap of 1:04.116-sec. The top-qualifying Expert Series driver (ages 30-44) was Japanese racer Toshihiro Deki, who turned 15th-fast lap of 1:05.233-sec. in the #80 Goshen Motorsports Mazda. Heading the Master Series drivers (ages 45 and over) was Californian Mike Guasch, with an 18th-fast lap of 1:06.314 in the #91 JDC Motorsports / Molecule Mazda. A second 40-minute practice session is scheduled for 4:35 pm this afternoon.

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Trios-Rivieres

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Championship Contender Scores Two Second Place Finishes

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Returning to the road courses after making his first two appearances on oval tracks, UK standout Adam Christodoulou finds himself in the thick of the championship battle after recording two second place finishes as the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear visited Joliet, Illinois, for the inaugural Harrah’s Grand Prix of Autobahn presented by Mazda doubleheader weekend.

Driving the #11 Molecule Labs/AlpineStar/Miller Millling Co. sponsored JDC Motorsports entry, Christodoulou, who has recorded victories at Sebring and Miller Motorsports Park, entered the weekend seeking to recapture his championship points lead after falling from the top spot in Iowa. Adding to his motivation was the first opportunity to race in front of his family this season.

“The weekend here was one to remember as the facilities were excellent, there were thousands of spectators, plenty of autograph signings, TV interviews and best thing of all was my biggest fans arrived to America for the first time, my Mom and Dad,” Christodoulou explained. ” We had a bit of a slow start unfortunately when my car suffered with a minor electronic problem in the opening practice, but my mechanic Dave and the rest of JDC work hard on the job and by the important part of the weekend started, everything was sorted, and the car ran faultlessly.”

Battling a damp track and stiff competition in Saturday’s early qualifying session Christodoulou would scrap his way to the second spot on the grid alongside points leader Peter Dempsey. “Everyone was pushing their cars throughout the qualifying session, and the water on the track made it even trickier than normal, and I was pleased to come away with a strong second place spot on the grid,” he revealed.

Christodoulou got a blistering run on the standing start, jumping ahead of Dempsey as they raced down to the first turn but the dirtier outside line on the corner opened the door for Dempsey to slip past on the inside. “I got an amazing start but wasn’t able to clear Peter completely and take the cleaner inside line on that opening lap,” he lamented. “The rest of the race I was just pushing trying to close the gap on him, there was a brief safety car period which was my chance to get by Peter, but unfortunately he played the restart as I would expect any other driver to and got the gap on the restart. I was hoping to stay with Peter for the remainder of the race but I didn’t quite keep my tires up to temperature during the Safety car period and I found myself having to hold my ground for 2nd, where I finished the race.”

Qualifying for Sunday’s finale would bring a close to a busy Saturday and once again Christodoulou was challenging for pole position after making several adjustments to the car. “The changes were definitely an improvement but unfortunately we just missed out on the pole although we were able to extend the time difference to almost a full second over the third place qualifier,” Christodoulou commented.

Sunday’s race would find Adam in the same position as Saturday as he fought to chase down Dempsey, setting fast lap for both races in the process, before climbing the second spot on the podium. “Sunday wasn’t quite as exciting as it was green from start to finish with no safety cars,” Adam explained. “Peter managed to improve on his start and I was just chasing him down for the whole race. There was a period during the race where I was improving on his times catching him and setting the fastest lap but unfortunately no points being handed out for this achievement.”

With four races left in the championship Christodoulou sits nineteen points behind Dempsey with 323 points overall to Dempsey’s 342 points. The series now heads into Canada for a two race swing starting with the Grand Prix du Trois-Rivieres on August 14-16.

“I know it’s going to be extremely close battle until the end of the championship with only four races left and Trois-Rivieres will be my first street circuit, so there is going to be a steep learning curve, but I would like to think I can pick up this track fast like I have with all my others,” commented Adam. “I have to finish by thanking Michael Guasch and Molecule Labs, along with Alpinestars and JDC Motorsports, for the opportunity they have provided for me this season and I look forward to getting back in the car again in a couple of weeks.”

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