Riki Christodoulou walked away with 8th position from the fifth and final round of the competitive Italian Open Masters series at Azzura, Jesolo last Sunday but the meagre result hides perhaps his best drive of the 2004 ICA campaign.

Christo, who had taken a runner-up position at the second round of the Championship driving for the MGM team, this time faced difficulty in qualification and the opening heats as an unsatisfactory 11th in the chrono became worse in the first race due to a collision and pit stop for a nosecone change dropped him down the order and 19th position by the flag.

At a circuit he had never seen before the 15 year old, who has just finished his exams, started from 19th in the second sprint and cut his way through to 11th. The overall result from the heats meant that Riki entered the final lining up on the grid in a lowly 22nd. From here the JICA ’03 British Champion set about making positions and establishing a race time that placed him second fastest on track. His persistence paid off and 8th was an admirable comeback considering the ground that had to be recovered.

After qualifying the MGM squad actually discovered that the chassis on the Kart was slightly twisted and this would not have helped the SHIFT backed driver’s plight.

The team now have a busy time ahead with the penultimate round of the British Championships occurring at Riki’s home track this Sunday (Shenington) and then a Kartmasters meeting the following weekend before a well-earned holiday.