10 Questions with Ioannis Christodoulou

1.  What first drew you to love/enjoy motorsport?

-My love for motorsport came from my love for cars in general. How that started I can’t say for sure, but one of the oldest relevant memories I have is of a poster I had on my wall of a white Testarossa (it was the 80s after all!) for no particular reason, I just liked it.

2.  Can you name top 3 favorite cars and why?

-Alfa Romeo 8C, one of the most beautiful cars ever made
-Nissan Skyline GTR R34, one of the first true “giant slayer” cars.
-Honda NSX, reliable/affordable supercar. Also excellent balance.

3.  Which racing sims/games first got you into simracing?

-The same as a lot of other people I guess, the original Gran Turismo in PS1.

4.  We know you have a blog, can you give us some info about your blog?

-I always liked writing about stuff, when I was younger I wanted to be a sports journalist. Real life had other plans though and I became an accountant, which as you can imagine is not a very interesting or creative job. Starting the blog was a way of doing something creative, re-kindling with my old habits and trying to write about my favourite subject, modern classic cars. I seem to have an ongoing fascination about 90’s sports cars.

5.  We know you have a good ability to find the issues in setups/cars, what do you recommend is the first thing should be looked at when building a setup or testing a car?

-Good question, although by absolutely no means I consider myself a “setup expert”. It may sound silly but THE most important thing to do before delving into the garage screen, is to do a lot of laps with the default setup. After that, you have to identify what you want to improve/bring to your driving style. The first things I change that I believe can seriously alter the handling characteristics are ARBs and then springs.

6.  What has been your favorite league to participate in and why?

-Haven’t taken part in that many leagues, only one in Assetto Corsa, three in Raceroom (one was organized by me) and now the ABL. Oh, and a single make league in Forza 5, which I try to forget lol. The one I enjoyed the most was probably the first Touring Pro Series season. Probably because it was my first one ever and the competition was quite high level. When I joined it I had absolutely no idea! But I was satisfied that I managed to compete with those guys.

7.  What kind of goals are you looking to achieve this season in simracing?

-This season I have set one very specific goal: To score a single point in the ABL league. Doesn’t matter if it is THC or FN, a point will do.

8.  What is your favorite track in real life and in simracing?

-I haven’t been in any tracks in real life, in Greece we have only one and let’s be honest, it is crappy. One that I enjoy watching on TV is Spa. In simracing for some reason I really like Sonoma, I don’t know why but it just clicks. Also Sebring.

9.  How did you wind up on Fritosport Racing team?

-I met and competed against the current team manager in TPS. Really enjoyed his mentality about racing, his character and noticed we shared common views about our hobby. Also the other members are top notch guys which creates a great company to race with.

10. Who is your favorite race car driver and why?  Plus favorite racing, open wheel or tin-tops?

-From F1 always Mika Hakkinen. That double overtake on Schumacher and Zonda in the middle is one of my top highlights ever. From rallying a lot of drivers come to mind, but for sheer mentalism a have a soft spot for Francois Delecour and Peter Solberg. From the newer guys, I kinda like Andreas Mikkelsen.

-I prefer tin tops, I seem to have a better understanding for mechanical grip cars than aero cars. But I like some low-powered, momentum open wheelers like Skip Barber or Formula Tatuus.

https://twitter.com/CARoulia

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