Istanbul: Alexander Rossi event summary

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Rossi 2nd in GP3 Championship, scoring podium and valuable points in Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey - June 1, 2010 - America's Alexander Rossi scores another GP3podium and good points toward driver championship and his ART Grand Prix team,finishing 3rd and 4th in Turkey. After difficulties in practice and qualifying, very little of thedemanding, undulating and exhilarating Istanbul Park Circuit seemed immune from thecreativity and racecraft of the 18-year-old from California.

Rossi demonstrated his ability to overtake, be it the dusty and cramped pit-wall inside TurnOne, the outside of the flat-out kink on the back straight or the congested braking area ofthe chicane in the opening laps, Rossi made the absolute most of his 9th place grid spotand continued to show his craft, leaving Turkey 2nd in the GP3 Championship after 4rounds.

Rossi working the final chicane at Istanbul Park

As in Barcelona, where he stormed from 28th to 8th in Race One, such passes for Rossiwere necessary again in Turkey, even if they did bring the usual downsides of pushing;flat-spotted tires and damaged wing peripherals. Struggling with set up and pace in freepractice and qualifying left Rossi 9th on the grid for Saturday's race.

"I really had to push for points this weekend, from the onset the pace was good enough",said Alexander. "My ART team and my engineer worked very hard and we madesignificant progress, but I still have some work to do before next rounds. the Valencia testin a couple of weeks will be good to sort things and improve upon. I am very happy toleave Turkey in a strong championship position, thanks to my ART team."

In round 3 on Saturday, Rossi finished 4th, reflexing his way through to sixth at the firstcorner. Sixth became fifth on that opening lap, after making a well judged pass insideDean Smith at the Turn Seven right-hander. Three laps later, Rossi lined up for the tight,inside line for Turn One and past the Canadian, Daniel Morad for 4th, with little room alongpit wall.

Rossi on podium with 3rd place finish at Istanbul Park

Starting fifth in Sunday's race, Rossi conceded a position to Felipe Guimaraes at Turn Oneas the field again funneled into congestion, but quickly overtook the Addax driver. as bothcars approached the flat-in-top right-hand kink, Rossi held the outside line, and now linedup for an inside approach to the chicane. Rossi braking with a fraction of margin, whilekeeping the ART car tight, he grabbed P5.

One lap later, Rossi gained massively on Daniel Morad out of Turn 8, winning the corner for4th postion in a braking match at the final chicane. Rossi went on to overtake Nico Mulleron lap 8 for third position. It was pit wall again, the one that Rossi used the day before, asAlexander perfectly timed his braking and turn-in on the final corner, running fractionallywide on exit, setting up the move for P3.

"We had more pace today," says Alexander. "By the time I was in third, it was too late to doanything about the two guys in front, but I feel we had a great outcome from a difficultweekend, scoring 9 points. I'm now looking forward to the two-day test at Valencia."

Rossi's 2nd in Championship to ART team-mate Esteban Gutierrez, who leadschampionship by 5 points, with 22.the next rounds of the GP3 Championship takes placeon the streets of Valenica, Spain June 25, 26 and 27, alongside GP2 and Formula 1.

2010 is the inaugural year for GP3 Series, commencing with a strong foundation managed byseries organizer Bruno Michel, as a direct feeder into the GP2 and Formula 1. For moreinformation about GP2 Series log onto: www.gp2series.com or GP3 at: www.gp3series.com.More information can be found regarding Alexander Rossi at; www.alexanderrossi.com. TeamRossi Motorsports manager, Pieter Rossi can be reached at; pete@teamrossimotorsports.com.Press and Publicity, please contact, Peter Windsor at: peter@peterwindsor.com

Rossi 2010 Partners include; CS&a, Alaska Coffee Roasting, North Miami Travel,Intervision, Norlie International, Meyers Investment Group, Racing Legends Motorsports,National Breast Cancer Foundation, Sierra Timberline, Century Equipment Company,Alan K. Wong M.D., Performance Drink, Kial James Design, AlpineStars, McSweeney andAssociates, big O Tire of Grass Valley, John Deere Credit, Real Life Fitness, Grass ValleySign and G. Russell Enterprises.

Alexander Rossi in 40 Seconds: From 109 Formula car starts, 18-year old Alexander hasnetted 35 wins, 53 podiums, 32 poles and current win percentage of 32.11%.2009 BMW /Sauber F1 Team, Jerez Spain Testing, 2009 International Formula Master Rookie Champion, 4overall and 3 wins.2008 Formula BMW World Final Winner and 2008 Formula BMW AmericasChampion with 11 wins 10 poles and 11 fastest laps. Rossi holds Formula BMW America seriesrecord with 14 wins to his credit and 11 pole positions.2007 Formula BMW USA ChampionshipAlexander finished 3 in overall in points with 3 wins and 5 podiums.

-source: alexander rossi

Istanbul: Alexander Rossi event summary

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