Adam Christodoulou and his team suffered a second setback in as many races when they were forced to withdraw from the French round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Paul Ricard.
Having managed just 47th overall at the previous round at Silverstone, Christodoulou and team-mates Klaas Hummel and Steve Jans were hoping for a better showing at the circuit in the South of France.
All three set impressive qualifying times, but it was former British Formula Renault Champion Christodoulou’s effort that out them on provisional overall pole by three hundredth of a second with just three minutes remaining in the session. However, they were pipped by Maxime Martin in the #3 VDS Racing car but that still left the trio on the front row.
Hummel was put in the car to start the race, and the tide was against him as he tried to jostle for position with the professional racers, despite being a PRO-AM entry. All was going well until one of the BMWs attempted a risky manoeuvre at the hairpin which pitched Hummel’s Mercedes SLS into a spin.
He soon had the car going again, and the team still looked set for a good result until the damage from the collision became apparent. The minor impact had damaged as door latch on the Mercedes, which then caused the door to fly open and forced the team into an unscheduled pit stop.
The stop had cost the team four laps and any hope of a top ten finish in their class. When Christodoulou took to the wheel further exhaust damage began to harm the car’s bodywork and the team had to retire.
Speaking after the race, Christodoulou said: “It’s a real shame that we didn’t get the result we deserved today. As everyone saw, the car was fast and we had potential to win our class, but it just wasn’t our weekend in the end.”
The team will be back in action at the infamous Spa 24 Hours on 28 July for the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Championship, but between now and then Christodoulou will also be competing in the VLN Championship with the Bonk Motorsport team at the Nürburgring.
