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| May 09, 2012 |
| Renault 3.5: Rossi Collects Valuable Points in Spain |
 | American Alexander Rossi overcame difficulties in qualifying to score a top-five finish in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series opening doubleheader
(Photo: Renault) |
SPAIN (May 8, 2012) - Alexander Rossi brought home 10 valuable championship points from a fifth place finish in the opening round of the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship at Motorland Aragon, Spain. He sits in 10th position in the Drivers’ Championship, with his Arden Caterham team in ninth position after a weekend of mixed fortune.
After finishing in P13 at the end of the first qualifying session of 2012, Rossi made a fantastic start to race one, already up to seventh place by turn one. However immediately following three retirements on the starting grid there was a coming together at the first corner with Rossi, Müller, Korjus and Grubmüller all heading for the same point on track which prompted the safety car to make an appearance. Whilst the marshals quickly cleared away the debris, it was the end of the race, and a frustrating day, for Rossi.
Rossi and his Arden Caterham team made great strides overnight, but still struggled with car set-up during second qualifying ahead of a race in which drivers were required to make a compulsory tyre-change stop between laps five and 15.
Starting from P15 on the grid in the afternoon, Rossi drove a faultless race and was able to avoid another incident in the opening moments of track action. His Arden Caterham team executed the quickest pit stop of the entire field, and Rossi fought for and held position until the last few laps when his tyres fell away. Whilst he was running in P3, Pic managed to pass him and Korjus in a double manoeuvre with 10 minutes to go. Rossi finished the 27-laps race in P5 to grasp a well earned 10 championship points.
“Coming into the weekend we had lots of ideas we wanted to apply to the car. Free practice on Friday was essentially a continuation of our testing programme, which was not ideal, but as a new team we had to keep learning right up to the first qualifying session. We made significant progress over the weekend and it was quite an achievement to get into the top five in race two. We were fairly competitive and the team is working really well together, so I am full of admiration and respect that we have been able to pull off everything we have this weekend. I am satisfied with my own performance too – we maximised every opportunity open to us and realised our initial goal. As many drivers also experienced mixed results this weekend and will be new to the Monaco circuit for our next round, as a team Arden Caterham must capitalise on this and use our combined experience of the street race to full advantage.”
“It has been pleasing to end the Motorland race weekend with a strong drive to fifth in the feature race,” added George Commins, Engineer. “Whilst our performance in qualifying has not been where we expect to be, our pace in the final race has demonstrated a significant step forward which we are confident will carry forward to the next events. Alexander drove superbly throughout the weekend, providing clear and concise direction and feedback.”
“This weekend ended with a big step forward in terms of performance from the car which was a real positive and Alexander did a great job of staying focused and taking that opportunity when it came to him with a fantastic drive in the feature race on Sunday to driver through into the top-five, which is a solid result for our first race weekend together,” commented Julian Rouse, Sporting Director. “This will give us the platform to move forward into the following races. Alexander worked really well with the whole team over a generally challenging weekend. His great attitude, focus and professionalism gave us the support to focus on continuing to improve the car for him.”
Alexander Rossi’s biography and race statistics can be found at http://www.alexanderrossi.com
Follow Alexander on Twitter @alexanderrossi and on the official ‘Alexander Rossi’ Facebook page.
Rossi is this year competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship in World Series by Renault for the Arden Caterham Motorsport team. 26 drivers are competing in 17 races at iconic circuits including Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, and new venues in the calendar such as the Moscow Raceway. The series is widely regarded as a stepping series into Formula One with drivers including Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica, and Sebastian Vettel all having competed in the series. learn more at http://www.worldseriesbyrenault.fr
Arden Caterham Motorsport formed in 2012 to compete in the FR 3.5 World Series by Renault Championship. This joint venture by Arden International and the Caterham Group builds on the successes of the Arden GP2, Arden GP3 teams and Caterham Racing GP2 team. keep up to date via Twitter @ArdenCaterham and http://www.arden-motorsport.com |
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