The other five finalists are Formula Renault UK champion Dean Smith and runner-up James Calado, British Formula Ford champion James Cole and rival Chrissy Palme and European Formula 3 Open racer Callum MacLeod.

Adam and the other nominees will go to Silverstone next month to be assessed in a variety of single-seater and tin-top machinery by an expert judging panel that includes 1996 Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill, ex-F1 racer Anthony Davidson, McLaren’s head of vehicle engineering Mark Williams, DTM star Jamie Green, veteran commentator Ian Titchmarsh and AUTOSPORT’S Marcus Pye and Kevin Turner.

There will also be a fitness test at Porsche’s Human Performance Centre, based at Silverstone.

The winner, who will be revealed at the Autosport Awards in London on Sunday December 6, will be awarded £50,000, a McLaren F1 test drive, full BRDC membership, and Puma racewear for a year.

Former winners of the award include current world championship leader Jenson Button, 13-time grand prix winner David Coulthard, Davidson, Green, and IndyCar star Dario Franchitti.

(Original article: autosport.com)

“We came into the weekend in a bit of a hole but we never gave up and the whole team kept pressing on throughout the weekend,” Adam explained. “We had built up a large enough points lead that a minimum of second place was guaranteed so I could focus all my efforts on attacking for the victory and doing everything possible to climb the podium. As I came out of that last corner I could see my team hanging over the wall waving me home and I was screaming in the radio as I crossed the finish line to take the title. It’s the best feeling in the world, knowing that you’ve completed something you have been working so hard for all year long”

The chase to the championship would be a battle throughout the weekend, with Saturday morning’s qualifying session being a microcosm of the entire season as Christodoulou and Demspey dueled back and forth for the pole position with first Adam on top before Dempsey grabbed the spot on the final lap by 0.02 seconds.

“Things had been looking really well in qualifying as my teammate Alex Ardoin and I were exchanging fast laps and as time was winding down I was on top of the charts,” Adam said. “With two minutes to go I was still fastest and looking strong for the pole position and everything was well until Peter produced a time two-hundredths faster than mine. This was not good. He had just extended his lead another point going into the race meaning I had to win and he had to finish 9 or worse for me to grab the championship. This was really frustrating for me as I knew two-hundredths was nothing, faster than you can blink an eye.”

With the race swiftly approaching Adam set aside any frustration and visualized the start of the 45-minute timed race. When the lights turned green for the final standing start Chrostodoulou and Dempsey rocketed down towards turn two, with Ardoin joining the fight for the lead as well. Ardoin would get the inside line and take the lead with Christodoulou sliding into second and Dempsey falling to third as the cars approached the famed “Corkscrew” of Mazda Raceway.

“Alex was leading the race and by the time we had got to turn six we had already pulled a gap. Alex ran wide going up the hill towards the cork screw and I thought about passing but it’s a risky corner for a pass and there’s a big chance of making contact with how tight the corner is,” Adam elaborated. “This exact scenario happened to Peter Dempsey as Joel Miller went for the overtaking move on the 1 lap into the cork screw and they made contact. Peter spun and dropped to last place before rejoining the circuit.

Things were looking up for me, but at this point I had no clue on what was happening behind me so I was pushing in 2 place and made a slight mistake in turn six myself two laps later. I went off course sliding towards the barriers but dragged it back on track not losing any positions. I caught Alex back up and I could see Caio behind me, the perfect scenario knowing I was safe with my teammates either side of me.”

The championship battle would turn over at the halfway point of the race as Demspey was forced to retire from the event from the damage sustained in the incident. At that point the pressure changed on Christodoulou as it became a matter of making sure he brought the car home to capture the crown, as he explained, “We got to turn two and the yellow flag was being show for a car off course, as I was exiting the corner there was the white, orange and green car of Peter Dempsey. I was shocked and on the next lap round my crew radioed in telling me all I had to do was finish. I couldn’t believe it, throughout the whole year Peter and I had been battling for the championship crown and there he was on the edge of the track. In a way I felt more pressure now, knowing it was down to me. Before I was just racing for the win, knowing it was down to Peter deciding where he was going to finish that would decide the championship, but now it was even more important than ever for me to finish.”

With the laps winding down Christodoulou saw Miller closing in and pushed to take the lead and have a teammate protecting his flank, making an inside move in the final corner to assume the lead from Ardoin. Safely through he opened a small gap that he carried to the checkered flag and the title. “I can’t thank the JDC MotorSports crew enough for all their efforts this weekend and over the season and am proud to have been a part of this team that captured the Overall and Master Class Championships as well as the Team Championship,” Adam commented. “I’ve got to thank All the crew, and the drivers for an incredible year, it been a pleasure working with them all. I felt like the whole JDC team just gelled, there was never any tension throughout the whole team, we all got on famously. The best thing is we didn’t just race with each other, we all worked together, we travelled together, went out together and completed 2009 together. It’s not just about one driver. It’s about a whole team, and that’s what I had backing me for us to win this championship.”

“Specifically I need to thank John, Katie and Sophie Church; Rick Cameron, my engineer; Dave Hopple, my mechanic; Mike Guasch and Molecule for supporting me this year, and capturing the Masters Class Championship; Gerry Kraut, part owner of JDC motorsports, for becoming Vice-Champion in the Masters class; my team mates Alex Ardoin, Caio Lara, and Chris Miller; and Gary Rodrigues and everyone from the Star Mazda Championship for an awesome Year.”

Christodoulou also had high praise for his fellow championship contender, stating, “I’ve also got to say, well done to Peter Dempsey; it’s been a fun year pushing each other along the way, battling with him for the title. It’s defiantly been a hard season and it was unfortunate for him to finish the year this way, I hope to see him back racing soon.”

Christodoulou wrapped up the season with three victories, nine podium finishes, eleven top-five finishes, and two pole positions in the thirteen race championship, capturing the title with 473 points to Dempsey’s 461 points.

In winning the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear Adam will receive a funded ride in the 2010 Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda as part of the Mazdaspeed Motorsports Driver Development program. In addition to the funded ride he received an additional check for $100,000 as series champion and $10,000 for the Rookie-of-the-Year honours.

“Arriving at Road Atlanta for the Petit Le Mans weekend I knew that it was going to be a big event and the storms that had caused record flooding in the area promised to make it a tough one as well with some crew members being delayed as flights were cancelled leading up to the event,” Christodoulou commented. “I came into the weekend full of confidence following a successful test two weeks prior to the event but the weekend proved to be a battle.”

The first challenge of the weekend would happen halfway through the opening practice session as Christodoulou hit the curbs in turn three a little too hard, sending him off course and damaging the front splitter in the process. Unable to complete the replacement in time for any additional laps he focused on improving in the second promoter test session but was faced with further setbacks as he suffered a partial failure of a rear upright.

“I started getting up to pace, making sure I didn’t have a repeat of the 1st session but something didn’t quite feel right from the rear of the car,” Adam explained. “On about lap 4 suddenly the rear of the car broke loose going into turn 7 and I spun. Luckily it wasn’t a fast corner so I kept the car on the track just producing quite a bit of smoke from the rear tires lighting up. At first I thought something was wrong with the differential, as it seemed a bit unstable going into the corners as well as out of the corners. I made my way into the pit lane, whilst radioing in saying something wasn’t right. We put new tires on and the JDC crew checked over the car, only to realize that the rear upright had partially collapsed. It wasn’t enough to stop the car from moving but it was enough to make the car quite a handful to drive on track. It would have been to dangerous to have carried on testing due to the nature and high speeds of the track and with something not quite right, so at this point we called it a day.”

The JDC MotorSports crew went to work overnight to ensure that everything was correct for the start of official practice. Running on older tires, Christodoulou sat near the top of the timesheets for the majority of the session, only dropping to sixth as others moved to new rubber as the first official session came to an end. Repeating the process for Thursday’s final practice session Adam would post the eighth fastest time ahead of the afternoon qualifying session.

Looking towards the qualifying session the team had planned on a one-stop strategy during the 22-minute session to allow for setup changes if needed. The plans would go out the window when a competitor in the early session spread oil across the track, cutting the second group’s session down to ten minutes.

“The car felt good and I was one of the quickest for the first few laps,” Christodoulou said. “It was the best it had been but I couldn’t improve my time so I finished qualifying in 6th. Looking back perhaps I was a bit too cautious knowing there was oil on the track, but qualifying was over and now it was all about the race.”

Jumping off the starting grid Christodoulou was able to jump up into fourth on the opening lap before a caution flag came out for two cars that had stalled on the grid. On the restart he dove to the inside to try to gain the third position but would be held up and was forced to watch Richard Kent slip past on the outside as the cars into turn three. Teammate Alex Ardoin was able to slipstream past as they headed down the backstraight before Adam regrouped and started focusing on regaining the lost positions.

“I realized how vital it was if you were going to pass into turn one you had to be fully committed, I was close to Alex worked the timing and managed to get past and started to hunt down 4th place,” Adam revealed. “We were halfway through the race and I was getting closer as we started catching up lapped cars and I was doing all I could to use them to my advantage. Richard went for a move on Walt Bowlin into turn 5, there was dust and stones kicking up off the edge of the track, they touched into turn 5 and both of them went across the gravel on the exit making it a bit easier for me to cruise past.”

“I was now looking at getting 3rd place, the final podium position, and once again lapped cars were becoming a challenge. I was getting the timing pretty good at when to overtake them without losing much time. Joel got a little bit sideways out of the last corner and I was on his bumper down the start and finish straight, I pulled out and out broke him into turn one and squeezed passed him.”

As others saw their lap times fall off Adam continued to click off consistent laps and was reeling in second place runner Conor Daly when the checkered flag fell on the 45-minute timed race. “It’s a shame the race wasn’t longer as I could see myself catching up everyone in front. The chequered flag flew and I brought the car home in 3rd and on the podium. I’m happy with the end result considering we struggled earlier in the week. I’ve got to thank the team for the massive amount of effort they put in this week, we proved that even during difficult times, when were a little bit off the pace that we can work even harder at it and pull out a good result.”

As the series enters the final round at Mazda Raceway Lagune Seca Christodoulou sits fifteen points behind Peter Dempsey in what has become a two-man race for the title. “I’m looking forward to Laguna Seca, as I think we made a lot of car set up progress during this week at Road Atlanta, so I know the car will be good. Peter Dempsey got the win and extended his lead to 15 points, but as I’ve found out anything can happen during a race weekend, so I’m looking forward to an exciting last race in my Star Mazda.”

Bryan Herta Autosport, RLR/Andersen Racing, Sam Schmidt Motorsports and AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing all tested potential drivers on September 15-16 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, while Bryan Herta Autosport also tested Sept. 23 at Indiana’s Putnam Park.

Star Mazda frontrunner Adam Christodoulou drove for BHA during the two testing sessions.

“We were very happy to provide Adam his first experience in an (Firestone) Indy Lights car,” Bryan Herta Autosport co-owner Bryan Herta told junioropenwheeltalent.com

“He has shown this year in Star Mazda that he is a driver with great potential, and he demonstrated his speed and maturity again at the test. Adam is clearly on several teams’ short list of drivers for next season, and we will be watching him closely as he tries to win the Star Mazda Championship.”

Read the original article here…

After a successful race at Mosport Canada – closing the points gap on the current Star Mazda championship leader Peter Dempsey – we travelled down to Road Atlanta where we were joined by the rest of the team. Arriving here was JDC Motorsport’s newest team member and my team mate for the rest of the season, Chris Miller, who has joined us after competing in Formula 2000 earlier in the year.

The test went really well. It only took a few laps to work out the track basics, but figuring out the blind corners was the trickiest part. It was a hot day, and it didn’t feel like there was much grip. Improvement throughout the day was steady. I was fastest with a small margin – a good end to the day – and we left the track knowing we should have good pace for the next event.

After testing I managed to get a bit of time to go back home to Birmingham, England. I was only there for a week but it’s always good to get some time there. I saw my family and meet up with a few friends during the weekend. Training continued as normal, but I did manage to make it to the Grand Prix Shootout on the Tuesday at Bruntingthorpe Airfield.

The event was attended by six international drivers. Three drivers went and did their evaluations in the morning and I was one of the three doing mine in the afternoon. I managed to meet with Peter Windsor, the man in charge of the New F1 team, USF1, then during my evaluation I was let loose in a Fiat 500 Abarth Spec. The little car performs like a missile, and punched out a good 130bhp from its turbo charged engine (though unfortunately it didn’t quite handle like my Formula Star Mazda!). Still, it was fun to see how far you could push it.

My evaluation was done by Rob Wilson. It was quite strange having some one sitting next to me, marking me. It felt like I was having my driving test all over again, except this time I didn’t have to stick to speed limits! It was definitely enjoyable, but different to what I’m used to. Firstly I was driving a front wheel drive car, secondly the race car had a roof, and last but not least, it’s unusual for me to be sat so high up whilst driving.

The evaluation went well. I didn’t have any ‘offs’ or detours, and I got on really well with all the guys at The Shootout. I must thank David Fleming for organising the event and being patient with my travel arrangements to and from America!

I spent the rest of time at home working until Thursday when I got back on a plane – this time to Indianapolis. This is where the majority of the Indy Car teams and Indy Lights teams are based. I travelled to the Vision Motorsports workshop where I got to meet all of the crew and had a seat fitting. Their workshop is unbelievable. The building is huge, they have at least 10 car bays for the Indy lights, Indy Cars and some of the older models too. They also had the two trucks in there as well as their own paint booth, machine shop and everything else a Indy car team needs to be successful.

Later that day I took a trip to California to meet my current team JDC Motorsports for another test at Laguna Seca – and the track didn’t disappoint at all. In truth, it was awesome!

I’d never been before, but I’ve played on Grand Turismo enough to feel like I know it well. Still, that doesn’t make it easy. I only had one test session before I was heading into qualifying, quickly followed by the race. The main aim for the weekend was to learn the track and get a good setup for the final round of the championship, and thankfully the day went really well. I won both my races, but unfortunately these aren’t point scoring events, however I’m planning on taking my success and repeating my finishing positions in the final round.

Monday morning wasn’t a time to relax; I was on another fling back across America to mid-Ohio. Here I was testing in an Indy Lights car; a 450hp beast of a machine, almost double the horse power of the Star Mazda and with a great deal more downforce. Here I worked with Bryan Herta (ex-Indy car race winner and Indy Lights champion) and Steve Newey the engineer of vision Bryan Herta motorsport.

The test was a good experience. It was another steep learning curve as I had to learn the track as well as the car. I was reaching nearly 160mph at the end of the back straight, but the downforce helps to slow the car down beautifully for the corners. I ran wide a few times but managed to keep the car off the grass, running respectable times and the Vision Bryan Herta crew were impressed with my improvement throughout the day. I ended up just over half a second off the fastest time, completing the 3rd fastest time of the day. I would like to think that if I spent another day in the car I would be right on the pace.

The next few days I spent my time in Indianapolis training and preparing for the next round at Road Atlanta. During my few days there I spent much time at Pit Fit where many of the drivers go to train with sports and race car enthusiast Jim Leo, drivers such as Dario Franchitti (Indy car), Scott Dixon (Indy Car), Townsend Bell (Indy car) and some of my Star Mazda rivals. On the Sunday I also made my way to the HQ of racefanradio.com where I conducted an interview with two of my closest championship rivals – talking about racing in America, next weekend’s race and our individual plans for next year.

Over the weekend I also met up with a few of the Indy Lights drivers to watch the Japan Indy 300, just before I had to pack my bags once more and get ready to head off for this weekends round 12 of the Star Mazda championship race at Road Atlanta.

It’s back to the race, and I’m really looking forward to an excellent weekend on the track.

The weekend looked promising from the start with the Birmingham, United Kingdom resident quickly jumping to the top of the time sheets in the early stages of the opening test session before the first twist of the weekend would strike.

“I was fastest at the time and everything was looking good until I made a minor error out of corner three, just clipping the grass on the exit, I tried to save it but the grass was damp and I became a passenger. I ended up making contact with the tyre wall, taking off my front wing and causing damage to the front left corner of the car,” Adam commented. “Once we got the car back to the trailer Dave my mechanic was straight onto the job and through a tremendous effort the car was fixed just before the next session.”

Back on track in the second session and looking to climb the charts once again Christodoulou suffered his second setback of the weekend after a bump at the apex of the flat out sixth gear turn two sent his #11 Molecule Labs / Alpinestars/ JDC Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda off the circuit.

“I hit the small bump on the inside of the track, lifting the front wheels and once the car landed it bottomed out and before I could save it I was on the grass going backwards down the hill. I realized it wasn’t going to be good so I braced myself for impact and I hit the wall with some serious speed causing even more damage than the previous session,” He revealed. “The Mosport safety crew were at my wreck within seconds; I got out the car and was checked over by the paramedics. Luckily I was ok, and the strong structure of the Star Mazda had taken all the impact. Once again we had a big job of getting the car fixed and I’ve got to thank everyone from the JDC Motorsport team for all their support and help putting the car back together, every one chipped in, the crew worked late hours, and the car was fixed by the morning.”

Returning to the circuit for the second day of practice Christodoulou would work on putting the previous days events behind him and after cracking the top ten on old tires in the morning session was pleased to post the second fastest time in the final practice session, just five-hundredths off the fast time from the session.

Adjustments made in anticipation of the morning qualifying session were washed away as torrential rains had swept across the track over night and though the storm had relented during qualifying the track surface was still wet enough to require a wet setup and a heavy fog made visibility a challenge. “Several red flag periods for cars that went off chopped up the session and I was a little bit annoyed only qualifying 4th, but we had the car set up for the wet conditions and the track dried up quicker than expected,” Adam stated. “Still I was happy that I out qualified my main championship contender Peter Dempsey.”

With an early morning qualifying session and a late afternoon race the weather forecast became the obsession of the day as the teams watched and waited to see if the storms would return and how to adjust their cars for the conditions. As the afternoon arrived it became apparent that the race would be run in the dry and attention was made to getting the cars just right for the 45 minute race.

As the green lights went out for the standing start everyone worked their way through turn one safely for what would be a caution flag free event. Battling his teammate Alex Ardoin on the opening laps, Christodoulou was able to gain the upper hand and move into the third spot and started focusing on catching up to the leaders. As the leaders started to encounter lapped traffic, Adam was able to climb into second place as race leader Conor Daly spun after making an outside pass attempt in turn eight before recovering and returning to the circuit. While the lapped traffic would initially help Adam it also cost him later in the race.

“I was now in second but it wasn’t going to be easy as Conor didn’t lose much time and was chasing me down. Traffic was all about timing and trying to get around the lapped traffic without losing time or speed,” Adam said. “Conor was getting closer lap by lap and I could see him trying to get the draft down the straight, unfortunately he finally got the run he needed to draft past down the straight and went down my inside. The flag came out and I brought the car home in 3rd. It wasn’t quite the win, but I was more than happy to finish 3rd after the disastrous start to the weekend and the main thing was I closed up the gap in the championship. I went into round eleven, 10 points shy of the championship, and I’ve now reduced it just 7 points.”

With two rounds left in the championship the series now heads to Road Atlanta for Round Twelve of the Championship during the Petit Le Mans race weekend on September 23-25.

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.

“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.

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.”

All the major open-wheel series worldwide are ranked, including F1, IRL, GP2, Indy Lights, Atlantic, Star Mazda, Formula Two, Superleague, World Series by Renault and F3. Rankings are based on results, points, the number of races in a season and the relative strength of competition in various series. According to their internal formula, Brits on Pole has determined that two Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear drivers are in the top-5; leading the Brits on Pole All-Star League is F1 championship points leader Jenson Button, followed by the 2007 Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti. Adam Christodoulou, currently second in the championship battle for the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, is third in the Brits on Pole list, followed by Richard Kent. Rounding out the top-10 are Justin Wilson (IRL), Lewis Hamilton (2008 F1 champion), Dan Wheldon (2005 IRL champion) as well as James Walker and Oliver Turvey (both racing in the World Series by Renault) and British F3 driver Riki Christodoulou, Adam Christodoulou’s cousin.

Christodoulou, driver of the #11 JDC Motorsports / Molecule / Alpinestars / Miller Milling Company Mazda, is in his first season of Star Mazda Championship competition and has won two races (Sebring and Salt Lake City). He has also started from the pole twice (Virginia International Raceway and Salt Lake City) and scored five podium finishes, including a pair of 2nd-place finishes in the Star Mazda Championship double-header last weekend at the Harrah’s Autobahn Grand Prix Presented by Mazda. He is currently second in the championship battle (behind four-time race winner Peter Dempsey of Ireland) with 323 points (vs 342 for Dempsey). The Star Mazda Championship awards 44 points for a race win, as well as one point for pole, and four races remain in the 13-race 2009 schedule. Born June 11, 1989 in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England, Christodoulou currently lives in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. His credentials include four British karting championships and the 2007 Formula Renault Graduate Cup. In 2008, he won the Formula Renault UK championship and was the McLaren Autosport BDRC Driver of the Year.

“Adam’s speed and commitment were obvious when we watched him race last year at Silverstone in Formula Renault, he impressed everyone,” said BritsOnPole.com co-editor Andy Darley. “I’m not surprised to see him thrive this year – he’s earned his places in the top five of the Brits On Pole All-Star League, ahead of the current Formula One world champion and a past Indianapolis 500 winner, purely on merit.”

2009 Star Mazda Championship Overview

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is now in its 19th year as one of the most prolific and successful driver development series in all of auto racing and is a major step on the MAZDASPEED Motorsports Driver Development Ladder, the only manufacturer-supported motorsports scholarship program that reaches all the way from karting to the top levels of motorsports. The 2009 Star Mazda Championship schedule includes 13 races on 11 weekends, most held on major motorsports weekends, racing in front of the crowds drawn by American Le Mans, NASCAR, ARCA and the Grand-Am Rolex series. Several races are shown live on HDnet, with others syndicated to various national and international cable networks.

Star Mazda Championship races, all 45 minutes long, include road courses, street circuits and ovals. F1-style standing starts, large fields and wheel-to-wheel racing create additional excitement. Countries represented include the U.S., Canada, England, Ireland, Norway, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile and Japan. Three of the top four and seven of the top ten drivers in the 2008 championship have returned to battle again in 2009.

Unrestricted testing promotes rapid development of a driver’s on-track, car setup and driver/engineer communications skills, and the ‘single-spec’ engineering of Star Mazda Championship race cars showcases driving talent over big budgets. All Star Mazda Championship drivers race identical high-tech open-wheel cars that feature a carbon fiber chassis, fully-adjustable suspension and a sequential 6-speed gearbox. Power is provided by Mazda’s legendary ‘Renesis’ rotary engine that produces 240 horsepower, top speeds of over 150 mph and 0 to 60 mph acceleration of 2.8 seconds. Total prizes, with money paid down through 15th-place in the championship, approaches $1.5 million, including a fully-sponsored ride for the 2009 series champion in the 2010 Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda.

For a more information on Brits on Pole, visit www.BritsOnPole.com. For the latest driver standings in the All-Star-League, click here.

For more information on the Star Mazda Championship and its drivers, as well as the Mazda Motorsports ladder system, please visit www.starmazda.com. For information, interviews and photos, contact Star Mazda Communications Director Peter Frey at +1 (818) 398-5733 or StarMazdaPR@aol.com.