Formula BMW Americas - Race - Rounds 10 -12 , Road America

Eurointernational teammates Alexander Rossi and Formula BMW Junior Adrien
Tambay divided the bulk of the podium positions scored in Formula BMW
Americas first ever three-race weekend. Rossi took the Round 10 and 11
victories from the pole. Tambay scored the Round 12 win after finishing in the
runner-up spot in the previous two Rounds.

Round 11:

Overall points leader Alexander Rossi (Eurointernational) scored his second
consecutive victory at Road America with this morning’s Round 11 race win.
Starting from the pole earned from his Round 10 victory yesterday, the 16-year
old Californian led every lap, setting a new race record of 2:16.636 minutes on
the penultimate lap of the 10-lap race, on the way to a 1.321 second winning
margin over teammate Formula BMW Junior Adrien Tambay. Rookie and
Formula BMW Junior Alexandre Ruiz (Apex-HBR Racing Team) finished third,
the first Formula BMW podium ever for the young Brazilian.

Gabby Chaves (Autotecnica), a guest driver from the Formula BMW Pacific
series, finished fourth. Ricardo Favoretto, now driving for Autotecnica, rounded
out the top-five finishers, to consolidate his hold on second place in the overall
point standings.

At the front of the field Rossi got away cleanly, but a little farther back three
drivers, Mikael Grenier (Apex-HBR Racing Team), Giancarlo Vilarinho
(Eurointernational) and Corey Dalenberg (Jensen Motorsport) jumped the start
causing Tambay, from third, and Ruiz, from fourth, to have to defend their
positions. Ultimately the three were called to the pits for a drive through penalty
and Tambay and Ruiz raced to catch Rossi who had opened up 1.3 second
gap. While Ruiz battled a charging Chaves in fourth, Tambay closed to within
.624 seconds of Rossi by lap eight. Unable to come any closer, Tambay settled
for his second runner-up finish of the weekend.

Rossi said, “The start went as good as I hoped and I was able to open a good
gap. I tried not to make any mistakes, but Adrien was right on me. He is a
talented driver and has a great car. I tried to look in my mirrors as little as
possible and focus on the win.”

Tambay said, “The race was good, but a false start by another driver made it
difficult from my position. Alexander put a big gap and then I put big pressure by
staying close behind him. I had some good laps out there today.” Ruiz said, “I am really happy. This is my first year and my first podium. I expect
to keep improving after this.”

Round 12:

Formula BMW Junior Adrien Tambay (Eurointernational), guest driving from the
Formula BMW Europe series, won Round 12 of the 2008 Formula BMW
Americas Championship today at Road America. Runner-up in the two previous
Rounds here this weekend, Tambay finished 1.374 seconds ahead of fellow
Formula BMW Junior Mikael Grenier (Apex-HBR Racing Team) in the 10-lap
race. Grenier’s second podium appearance of the weekend was his career-best
Formula BMW result. Also having the best weekend of his career was the Apex-
HBR teammate Alexandre Ruiz, also a Formula BMW Junior. Ruiz finished
third, his second consecutive podium.

Formula BMW Pacific driver Gabby Chaves (Autotecnica) and Alexander Rossi
(Eurointernational) finished fourth and fifth respectively. Following the race,
IMSA officials assessed a 30-second penalty to both drivers for violating IMSA
code 5.7 (unjustifiable risk) ultimately resulting in them moving to tenth and
eleventh.

Grenier, from his first career pole, lead the opening three laps with Rossi
following close behind. On lap two, Raimondo, in seventh, had contact with
Vilarinho, in eighth but spun, but his car was able to be removed so that the
race could continue under green. Tambay got by both Rossi and Grenier on lap
four, as Chaves moved up to third and Rossi fell back to fourth. Grenier, Ruiz,
Chaves and Rossi continued to battle allowing Tambay to open a healthy gap at
the front. Rossi got by Chaves for fourth on lap seven, but had to relinquish the
position on the final lap as Tambay earned a well-deserved first Formula BMW
Americas win.

Tambay said, “It was amazing race, from fifth on the grid to my first win in
America! Three times on the podium and one win - what can I say, it was a
perfect weekend!”

Grenier said, “I think it was a good race. I had pretty good start and it was nice
battling with everyone. I’m quite happy to podium twice this weekend and gain
first place points in this race. This was my first pole, and I’m sure it won’t be my
last.”

Ruiz said, “I am happy today. I had a good fight, especially in the last lap. I’m
happy my teammates took really good care of my car. I’m looking forward to the
next race.”

The next three Rounds of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas Championship will
be held at New Jersey Motorsports Park, in Millville, NJ on September 27 and
28th.

Race - Round 11 - 10 laps

1 Alexander Rossi Eurointernational 22:58.061
2 Adrien Tambay (J) Eurointernational 22:59.382
3 Alexandre Ruiz (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:03.350
4 Gabby Chaves Autotecnica 23:04.509
5 Ricardo Favoretto (J) Autotecnica 23:16.732
6 Jorge Goncalvez Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:18.785
7 Gianmarco Raimondo (J, R) Autotecnica 23:21.840
8 David Ostella (R) Eurointernational 23:23.127
9 Mikael Grenier (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:43.787
10 Giancarlo Vilarinho (R) Eurointernational 23:58.554
11 Maxime Pelletier Apex-HBR Racing Team 18:38.616 NR
12 Corey Dalenberg Jensen Motorsport 17:05.045 NR

Race - Round 12 - 10 laps

1 Adrien Tambay (J) Eurointernational 23:13.804
2 Mikael Grenier (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:15.178
3 Alexandre Ruiz (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:15.956
4 Ricardo Favoretto (J) Autotecnica 23:21.484
5 Giancarlo Vilarinho (R) Eurointernational 23:22.457
6 Jorge Goncalvez Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:29.630
7 David Ostella (R) Eurointernational 23:29.871
8 Maxime Pelletier Apex-HBR Racing Team 23:31.878
9 Corey Dalenberg Jensen Motorsport 23:35.041
10 Gabby Chaves* Autotecnica 23:47.239
11 Alexander Rossi* Eurointernational 23:47.264
12 Gianmarco Raimondo (J, R) Autotecnica 04:45.363 NR

*assessed 30-second penalty for violations of IMSA rule 5.7

J = Formula BMW Junior
R = Rookie

Overall points standings following 12 of 17 Rounds:
1. Rossi 165
2. Favoretto 133
3. Raimondo 98
4. Grenier 93
5. Ruiz 92
6. Pelletier 77
7. Vilarinho 77
8. Goncalvez 74
9. Ostella 43
10. Jovanovic 20
11. Dalenberg 4

Rookie points:
1. Raimondo 98
2. Grenier 93
3. Ruiz 92
4. Vilarinho 77
5. Ostella 43
6. Jovanovic 20

Team Points:
1. Eurointernational 316
2. Apex-HBR Racing Team 240
3. Autotecnica 127
4. Jensen Motorsport 24

Background:

Formula BMW is the world’s leading entry-level series in formula racing. In 2008
the three Formula BMW series - Formula BMW Europe, Formula BMW Pacific
and Formula BMW Americas - will be held in the key motor sport markets of
Europe, pan-Asia and North and South America. The end of the year will see
the Formula BMW World Final staged for the fourth time. The winner will be
granted the opportunity of a test drive with the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Formula
BMW will be held on the undercard of Formula One on 12 occasions. The
series gives young racing talents the chance to enter professional motor sport in
a safe racing car - the Formula BMW FB02.

The FB02 has been in use since season 2002. It is powered by a 140 hp BMW
engine that takes it to a top speed of up to 230 km/h. It ranks among the safest
vehicles in its category and exceeds the FIA safety regulations that govern this
class of car. Innovations such as the FORS (Formula Rescue Seat) were
developed by BMW Motorsport specifically for Formula BMW. Following
Formula One, Formula BMW was the first single-seater series outside the US in
which the HANS system was made mandatory.

Formula BMW drivers have the opportunity to take part in an Education and
Coaching Program that runs parallel with the racing season. The program
includes driver coaching at the races by professional race drivers, attending a
Formula One test, fitness courses, tuition in driving technique and strategy, as
well as seminars on sponsoring and sport management.

Among the 20 team drivers in this season’s Formula One, there are now four
Formula BMW graduates: Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and
Timo Glock. The test and reserve drivers add three more to the tally, namely
Christian Klien, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas Hülkenberg.

In the words of BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: “With our worldwide
Formula BMW concept, we offer drivers and teams a platform which, in this
format, is unprecedented in a junior series and which allows them to benefit
from our Formula One involvement. Through Formula BMW the drivers are
equipped with the tools they need to assert themselves successfully in the world
of professional motor racing.”

Similar Stories

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 7:52 am and is filed under BMW Motorsport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.