WITH SECOND PLACE IN RACE TWO AT SILVERSTONEFormula Renault Series 3.5 leading rookie Alexander Rossi achieved his sixth podium finish of the season today when he brought his Fortec Motorsports car home in second position in race two at Silverstone, UK.After Alexander’s third place podium finish in race one yesterday, he had high hopes for another strong qualifying this morning. Rossi struggled, however, with the team’s set up for the session and was disappointed to set a 1:45.983 to sit on the third row of the grid in P6 for race two. 

In warm and dry conditions, Rossi held position during the opening laps of the race and had already achieved two fastest laps in a row by lap 6. As the mandatory pit stop window opened Fortec Motorsports made an early call to Rossi and a swift stop by the team ensured that Alexander rejoined the field having made up four positions. A long stop by Vergne at the end of the window meant that Rossi maintained P2 behind the Carlin of Wickens and was able to push his car to the absolute limit on the new set of tyres.

Alexander was able to hound the tail of the race leader with only a one second gap between them at the half way stage. At the chequered flag Alexander took another podium position for the weekend with an impressive 18 points, second place finish. Alexander now has 134 points in third place in the Championship, with his Fortec Motorsports team on 175 points and in second place in Teams competition.  

Alexander Rossi “The start of the race was average. I was defending position from Korjus and was much quicker than Berthon on the opening couple of laps, but in the middle of cars only a few tenths apart you just have to sit tight and make some clear air. The team called me in early and did an unbelievable pit stop; it made such a difference. When I came out in front of Daniel I knew that we were in a good position and I was almost able to get Robert as well. We have had a near perfect weekend in terms of results and it’s all looking good going in to the next round.”Jamie Dye, Team Manager, Fortec Motorsports “It was a great day today for Alexander’s Championship hopes with two podiums in two days. We shall keep chipping away at the Carlin cars lead and see what else we can do in the closing rounds. The team did a fantastic job in the pit stops today and Alexander was able to jump up four places from it. Well done to everyone in the team and let’s look forward to the next round at Paul Ricard in a few weeks time.”