AMG

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.

Read More

06

Oct 2017

Christodoulou caps Blancpain GT season with top-five finish

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

Adam Christodoulou scored the best result of his Blancpain GT Series career with a fine fifth place finish in the final race of the year at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.

Sharing the No. 4 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Yelmer Buurman and Luca Stolz, Christodoulou put a season of bad luck behind him to register his second points score in as many rounds, after a gutsy drive to eighth in the Spa 24 Hours in July.

The 28-year-old Briton enjoyed a fraught battle with fellow AMG factory driver Maxi Buhk over fourth position for the duration of his stint, but despite losing out to the German on the final lap, was delighted to end the year with his best result of the season.

“Of course Paul Ricard would have been better as we were set for a podium there until the driveshaft went, but it was really good to finish off on a high and have a weekend where things went our way,” reflected Christodoulou.

“It was a fun race, but that one hour stint felt like three! I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed to have lost fourth on the last lap, but in general, our pace all weekend was very positive.”
In damp, overcast conditions atypical for the Spanish Grand Prix venue, Stolz topped the first qualifying group, while Christodoulou improved to go second in his session. When the track was at its fastest in Q3, Buurman was delayed by traffic, but still managed an excellent 10th in the 49-car field.

With the track fully dry for the start, the Dutchman made a good getaway to run seventh on the opening lap, despite contact from Marco Seefried’s Jaguar that forced him to run wide at turn four. Due to a Stuart Leonard’s Audi bottling up the pack, Buurman had to balance his designs on sixth place with a wary eye on his mirrors, but Black Falcon cleverly optimised the strategy by pitting the car on lap 27, enabling Stolz to emerge in clear air and undercut his rivals on fresh rubber.

Having vaulted up to fifth, the German capitalised on a mistake from Will Stevens’ Audi at the turn nine hairpin to take fourth before handing over to Christodoulou for the final dash to the finish.
The Briton initially held ambitions of taking third away from champion-elect Mirko Bortolotti’s Lamborghini, but a few laps stuck in traffic allowed Borolotti to make a break and Buhk’s identical Mercedes-AMG GT3 to close in. The two cars circulated as one for the final half hour, but Christodoulou’s hopes of fourth were dashed on the final lap when traffic allowed Buhk to sneak by.

“It’s always better to be the chasing car when you’re in traffic as the lead car has to slow down and anticipate what the backmarkers are going to do,” explained Christodoulou.

“Unfortunately I just made the wrong decision of where to overtake them, but that’s how it goes sometimes when the field is so closely matched, you don’t get a moment to relax. It’s definitely been a testing season for us, but we showed that when things go our way, we can be really strong.
“The pitstops were absolutely nailed perfectly and everybody on the team did a great job to move us forward five spots from where we started. I’d like to offer my thanks to everyone at Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon for their hard work all season and I’m already looking forward to coming back next year to fight for our first Blancpain GT Series win.”

Christodoulou’s next race will be his first competitive outing in the new Mercedes-AMG GT4 at the Spa 2x6H next weekend (October 7-8).

Read More

04

Sep 2017

Christodoulou wins Pro-Am class in VLN 6

Posted By Adam Christodoulou / AMG, VLN / AMG, Career, VLN / No Comments

Adam Christodoulou led Team Black Falcon to a Pro-Am class victory in the seventh round of the VLN Endurance Series at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Sharing his usual Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Abdulaziz al-Faisal and Erik Johansson, the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hour winner navigated changeable conditions to secure class honours and a creditable sixth place overall in the 17-car SP9 field.
The Pro-Am win capped off a positive weekend for Christodoulou, whose primary focus was to develop a further understanding of the Dunlop tyre and welcome new teammate Johansson.

“Erik tested with us in the previous VLN but only on the Grand Prix circuit, so this was his first ever GT3 race on the Nordschleife and I thought he did a great job,” explainedChristodoulou.

“Like everybody else, he’s out there to make a name for himself and I think he did himself extremely proud.

“Aziz did a great job as well, his best times and race pace were right in the ball park. It was one of his best performances yet, which was really encouraging. Unfortunately during the race there was some minor contact that damaged the steering and allowed the Muecke car to take fifth on the final lap, but we still ended up sixth overall and it didn’t affect our Pro-Am win which was our ultimate goal for the weekend.”
Christodoulou was left frustrated during qualifying by a Code 60 in qualifying which cost him a clear lap when track conditions were at their best. The 27 year old had been second earlier in the session running on intermediates, but as the track dried and times tumbled,Christodoulou’s best lap was stymied by oil left from Brunchen to the Stefan Bellof Curve.

Rather than a potential front-row grid slot, he would instead have to make his way forward from 12th, turning the race into a recovery exercise.

“Qualifying was disappointing because I was set for being in the low 8 minutes on the predicted time but ended up losing eight seconds with the oil – I was just concerned with keeping it on track,” he said.
Tasked with getting the team back into contention, Christodoulou drove a committed opening double stint up to fifth position and was impressed by the Dunlop consistency underneath him despite the typically tricky Eiffel weather.

“It’s the second time I’ve been on the Dunlop and it really does transform the car,” he reported.

“I found that I was able to rotate the car a lot better although it felt a little looser, so you have to have the confidence to push it and to know that it’s going to stick.”
Although he narrowly missed out on the honour of being the first Mercedes home by 0.52 seconds, Christodoulou was pleased with the final outcome.

“All in all everyone is extremely happy to bring home a win in class,” he added.

“Both of my team-mates did an awesome job, the strategy from Black Falcon was the correct one throughout the day and we showed really good pace compared to what we’ve had before this season, which is very positive and shows we’re heading in the right direction.”

Next up for Christodoulou is the final British GT round of the season at Donington Park (23-24 September), where he will again team up with Richard Neary and the Team ABBA by Rollcentre Racing outfit in pursuit of a first British GT podium of the season.

Read More

02

Jun 2017

Christodoulou Finishes a Fighting Fifth in 2017 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Posted By Adam Christodoulou / AMG, News, Nurburgring / AMG, Career, Nurburgring / No Comments

Adam Christodoulou finished a spirited fifth as the top Mercedes-AMG entrant in the 45thrunning of the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Sharing the No. 1 Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Maro Engel, Manuel Metzger and Yelmer Buurman, defending event winner Christodoulou came through from 22nd on the grid to secure a top-five finish after 24 Hours of hard racing on the formidable Nordschleife.
Typically, the Eifel circuit served up the full spectrum of conditions during the race, with blistering heat in the early hours of the race on Saturday making life hard for drivers and tyres alike before a heavy rain shower hit with two laps to go, requiring immense skill to keep the car on-track.

After a faultless display from the team, with no penalties or technical problems and clean driving from all four drivers, 27-year-old Christodoulou was satisfied with his performance, but is already looking forward to getting another shot at the victory next year.

“We maximised everything we had, it almost seemed harder to finish fifth this year than to win last year!” he said.
“It was amazing go see the level of competition even higher than last year as all the manufacturers get more and more on-board, it was literally a 24 hour sprint race throughout.

“We have mixed emotions because we always want to go out there and fight for the win, but I’m really happy with everything from our side, all the pitstops were perfect and as drivers we made no mistakes, it was pretty much faultless.

“Now we need to figure out what we can do better for next year to make sure we’re back on the top spot.”
The hot temperatures caught everyone by surprise, not least the tyre manufacturers, which had completed all their pre-race simulations in much cooler conditions.

As a result, the free practice and qualifying sessions were spent focusing on a setup that would reduce the rate of degradation and coax the maximum performance over an eight-lap stint.

Having achieved their goal of reaching the Top-30 Qualifying session and winning the all-important blue light to help warn slower cars of a front-running car in their mirrors, attentions then turned to the race itself.
.
Buurman started the car and made an early pitstop to get out of the traffic and into clear air, which lifted the car into the top 10 by the time Christodoulou climbed aboard on lap 20.

Completing a double stint, Christodoulou made valiant progress in the intense heat to hand over to Engel in fourth, although it was hard work.

“It was unreal, in fact one of our Porsche teams did a single stint and almost passed out,” he said.

“Thankfully in the Mercedes-AMG we’ve got plenty of air flow in the car, but regardless of how fit you are, if you’re cooking like a chicken there isn’t much you can do about it.”
Having enjoyed a well-earned rest, Christodoulou returned to the cockpit just after 3 AM and carried on where he left off by setting competitive times.

“We pretty much double-stinted all the way through, which means the drivers get a bit more rest in between and a bit more down-time,” Christodoulou explained.

“Rather than only having three hours out of the car, you get the full six hours and in that time you can get at least three hours sleep at a time.”
In his final stint at the wheel, Christodoulou set the car’s fastest lap of the race as he built a gap of 40 seconds over the pursuing No. 50 Mercedes-AMG Team HTP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Engel then climbed aboard to bring the car to the flag, but the sudden arrival of rain caught everybody by surprise, as the German struggled around the 25.947 km circuit on slick tyres.

“I think we had an opportunity for fourth but the conditions at the very end were very tricky and cost us a bit of time,” said Christodoulou.

Despite this, the car crossed the line safely in fifth place, a result that reflects the progress made by Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon since the new tyre and ride-height rules were introduced at the start of the season.

“From those tough first few races under the new regulations, to finish fifth in the 24 Hours is very satisfying. Even to finish the 24 hours at all is a big achievement,” addedChristodoulou.

“It’s been fun developing the car from race to race and there’s obviously still room for improvement, but I’d like to say a huge thank you to Mercedes-AMG Team Black Falcon, to all of the AMG guys involved and to my three super-quick team-mates who did a great job all weekend.

“I look forward to coming back next year and trying to take back the title.”

Read More