Riki's delighted by Tango performance

By mbeardmore

SUTTON racer Riki Christodoulou was the third-highest placed British driver in the Tango Masters Formula Three race at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

The 20-year-old started his Alpinestars and British Car Registrations Dallara-Mercedes from 23rd place on the 36-car grid for the 25-lap, 30-minute non-championship race.

But in the race, staged on a track Christodoulou had never even seen before, he came through to finish 16th – 63.061secs behind winner Valtteri Bottas, of Finland.

"My Dallara-Mercedes ran on Kuhmo tyres for this race and not the Cooper produced ones that I run on in the British series," said Christodoulou.

"I struggled in practice, trying to get to grips with the tyres – which are totally different to what I use in the British series – while also learning the Zandvoort track, which I'd never ever seen before let alone driven on, in just 30 minutes.

"The team and I worked hard with trying to find the pace for each time I went out on track.

"The race was staged in very hot and humid conditions and was actually one of the longest races I've contested.

"I made a good start and immediately made up some places and continued to work my way up from 23rd to 16th.

"I had to work hard in the closing stages too – setting my fastest lap on the last lap of the race – and I was particularly pleased with my fitness level in such extreme conditions."

Christodoulou resumes Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series action at Snetterton next month (July 5). He lies joint seventh in the overall standings.