16-year old Alexander Rossi (Eurointernational), of Nevada City, Calif., had the pace of this weekend’s Formula BMW Americas field taking the pole position for both Rounds 5 and 6. Rossi, the winner of Round 4, now has two consecutive and four career Formula BMW poles.

Round 5 –
The fastest driver in both Friday practice sessions, Rossi’s lap of 1:26.589 minutes around the 2.4-mile, 10-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in yesterday’s qualifying session was .873 seconds quicker then Eurointernational teammate Ricardo Favoretto. Maxime Pelletier (Apex-HBR Racing Team) was 1.167 seconds behind Rossi and will start in the third position. Rookie Giancarlo Vilarinho (Eurointernational) qualified fourth for the 16-year old Brazilian’s best qualifying effort to date. Overall and Rookie point leader Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica) rounded out the top-five qualifiers.

Round 6 –
Alexander Rossi (Eurointernational) rose to the top for a second time this weekend and scored the pole for Round 6. Continuing to improve with every session and reset his career-best effort, Eurointernational teammate Giancarlo Vilarinho qualified second with a 1:27.019 minute lap to lead all Rookie drivers. Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica) moved up two positions from Round 5 qualifying and will start third. Ricardo Favoretto (Eurointernational) qualified fourth and David Ostella (Eurointernational) qualified fifth.
The entire field qualified within 1.282 seconds of Rossi’s pole time.
Alexander Rossi 1st/1st
“In the second qualifying session the track was little cooler and cleaner than yesterday. I am really happy with my car set up this weekend. Eurointernational worked hard to give me a really good car. There was a lot of traffic so I had to take that into consideration. I pushed hard. I knew Ricardo was pushing hard too, so that made me work even harder. Two poles, I couldn’t be happier.”

Giancarlo Vilharinho 4th/ 2nd
“After yesterday’s fourth place qualifying finish, I walked the track and focused on specific areas to improve. I put what I learned into practice today and I improved to second place. A second place position for Round 6 is really great. I am happy from Canadian Grand Prix podium and I look forward to two strong races tomorrow.”

The Round 5 race is scheduled to start at 10:35 a.m. tomorrow with the Round 6 contest beginning at 3:45 p.m.

Overall points standings following Round 4: Raimondo (56), Rossi (49), Favoretto (37), Vilarinho (34), Goncalvez (34), Ruiz (28), Pelletier (26), Grenier (21), Jovanovic (20), Ostella (6). Rookie points: Raimondo (50), Vilarinho (34), Ruiz (28), Grenier (21), Jovanovic (20), Ostella (6)

Licensing courses for the 2009 season are scheduled for July 28-29 and August 4-5. They will be held at the Formula BMW Racing Center at the Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, in Valencia, Spain. Applications are now available at www.formulabmwamericas.com.

Qualifying – Round 5

1 Alexander Rossi Eurointernational 1:26.589
2 Ricardo Favoretto Eurointernational 1:27.462
3 Maxime Pelletier Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:27.756
4 Giancarlo Vilarinho (R) Eurointernational 1:27.829
5 Gianmarco Raimondo (J, R) Autotecnica 1:27.871
6 Alexandre Ruiz (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:28.001
7 Mikael Grenier (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:28.117
8 David Ostella (R) Eurointernational 1:28.533
9 Jorge Goncalvez Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:28.873

Qualifying – Round 6
1 Alexander Rossi Eurointernational 1:26.715
2 Giancarlo Vilarinho (R) Eurointernational 1:27.019
3 Gianmarco Raimondo (J, R) Autotecnica 1:27.484
4 Ricardo Favoretto Eurointernational 1:27.574
5 David Ostella (R) Eurointernational 1:27.638
6 Maxime Pelletier Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:27.804
7 Mikael Grenier (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:27.885
8 Alexandre Ruiz (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:27.928
9 Jorge Goncalvez Apex-HBR Racing Team 1:27.997

J = BMW Junior
R = Rookie