rossi.sochi
Alexander Rossi returned to GP2 Series in style this weekend after his third win of the season with Racing Engineering.
A dramatic and eventful Feature Race saw the American driver taking a superb P1 at the Olympic Park Grand Prix circuit in Sochi, Russia – a crucial win ahead of his closest rival in the driver ranking battle, Stoffel Vandoorne, to keep the 2015 season title hopes open.  
Alexander lined up in third position ahead of today’s race at the Sochi Autodrom, after a tricky wet qualifying session saw him blocked by traffic on his final, and quickest, lap. Making a superb start off the grid inSaturday’s Feature Race, Alexander was able to pass Vandoorne and immediately move up to P2, challenging for the lead.
However an incident further down the field caused the race to be red flagged, and after a 35 minute delay was resumed behind the safety car. Alexander maintained his P2 position after the restart behind Alex Lynn. As Lynn made his mandatory pitstop, Alexander took P1 and began setting the fastest laps of the race so far with a time of 1:47.657s, looking to open the gap to his closest rival. 

On lap eight Alexander made his mandatory pitstop and returned to the track just fractions away from Lynn. However a mistake by the Briton saw Alexander retake the lead with just three laps to go, and he began to pull away from Gasly and Vandoorne behind.

The Racing Engineering driver initially led the DAMS car by 0.7 seconds, however in the closing stages of the race Alexander was able to increase the gap to Gasly and win by 3.1 seconds. 

Alexander remains in second place in the driver rankings and will look for a repeat success in tomorrow’s Sprint Race, which will see him start in P8 as per the reversed grid format. 

Alexander then returns to the Manor Marussia F1 Team for the US Grand Prix, where he will look to continue his positive form for his home race in Austin. 

Alfonso de Orléans-Borbón, Team Principal Racing Engineering: “We are absolutely delighted with Alex and another win today. Once more he showed his skill, talent and intelligence in a race that was full of drama, and on a circuit he has never raced at before. We always knew Alexander would extract the absolute most from the car this weekend, and he’s showcased once more what a special talent he is. Alex deserves to be in F1, and to stay there. He is incredibly focused and has a great relationship with the talented people in our team. We will continue working hard to achieve the best results possible for the final few races of the season.”

Alexander Rossi: “Today has been a very good day. We knew we had the pace to do well here, and that qualifying wasn’t reflective of what we knew we were capable of. I got a good start and was able to pass Stoffel quickly, and knew what I had to do from there. It’s fantastic to keep the momentum of our wins from Spa and Monza, and winning here in Sochi is a great result for the team. 

“I’m realistic in that there’s still a lot of work to do, but I’m focused and hope to keep the momentum of our recent wins through to the end of the season. I’d like to thank Racing Engineering again for giving me an incredible car, and also thank Manor Marussia F1 Team for all of their support in allowing me to continue my GP2 Series season. I’m incredibly proud to be able to deliver what we all know we’re capable of. This is a special win for me, and it’s thanks to all the support and belief from everyone around me, both in Formula 1 and GP2 Series.”

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