Formula BMW: Juncadella and Rossi win Round 8 and 9, at Lime Rock Park

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By Formula BMW Americas Series ROUND 8: Formula BMW Europe driver Daniel Juncadella (Euro Junior Team), of Barcelona, Spain, won Round 8 of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas Championship today at Lime Rock Park. He finished 4.195 seconds ahead of Formula BMW Junior driver Ricardo Favoretto (Eurointernational), of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the 25 lap contest. This was Favoretto's third consecutive runner-up finish of the season. He will, however, take the winner's 20 points (guest drivers are not eligible for points) and consolidate his hold on second place in the overall standings.
Maxime Pelletier (Apex-HBR Racing Team), of Longueuil, Canada, finished third despite feeling ill. This was his third podium appearance of the season.Rookie point leader Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica) finished fourth. Alexander Rossi (Eurointernational) recovered from a spin after contact with Favoretto on lap 18 to round out the top-five finishers and retain the lead in the overall point standings. Rossi set a new race record of 57.798 seconds on lap 20.The top-finishing Rookies in Round 8 were Raimondo (P4), Ostella (P6), Grenier (P7) , Ruiz (P9) and Vilarinho (P10). Race Results - Round 8: Pos Driver Team Time1 Daniel Juncadella Euro Junior Team 24:55.2342 Ricardo Favoretto Eurointernational 24:59.4293 Maxime Pelletier Apex-HBR Racing Team 25:01.3334 Gianmarco Raimondo (J, R) Autotecnica 25:01.4495 Alexander Rossi Eurointernational 25:04.6396 David Ostella (R) Eurointernational 25:04.6397 Mikael Grenier (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 25:05.7698 Jorge Goncalvez Apex-HBR Racing Team 25:18.9119 Alexandre Ruiz (J, R) Apex-HBR Racing Team 25:20.05510 Giancarlo Vilarinho (R) Eurointernational 25:27.32211 Asad Rahman (R) Atlantic Racing Team 25:43.078 J = Formula BMW Junior
R = Rookie
ROUND 9: American Alexander Rossi (Eurointernational) was back at the top of the Formula BMW Americas podium in Round 9 to maintain his lead in the overall point standings. He finished 7.081 seconds ahead of his teammate, Formula BMW Junior driver Ricardo Favoretto, in the 25-lap race to score the seventh victory of his Formula BMW career and fourth win of the season. Today's win ties him with 2007 Formula BMW USA champion Daniel Morad for most series victories. Favoretto's fourth consecutive runner-up finish keeps him second to Rossi in the overall standings. Rookie points leader Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica), of St. Catherines, Canada, returned to the podium for the third time after winning the first two Rounds of the season.Fellow Formula BMW Junior driver Mikael Grenier (Apex-HBR Racing Team) finished fourth. David Ostella (Eurointernational) finished fifth.The top-finishing Rookies were Raimondo (P3), Grenier (P4), Ostella (P5), Vilarinho (P8) and Ruiz (P9).Rounds 10, 11 and 12 of the 2008 Formula BMW Americas Championship will be held at Road America, in Elkhart, Wis., on August 07 - 10.