News – From www.formulatr.com –
June 25, 2006:Repeat For Rossi in Reno

Round 10 – Sunday June 25th: With the taste of victory still fresh in his mouth Alexander Rossi decided to make it two for two in Nevada as he raced his way to a second consecutive win on Sunday at the Reno-Fernley Raceway. Mirroring his performance in the 1600 class from the previous day he again captured pole position and stamped his authority on proceedings, including fastest lap of the race, to take an emphatic win behind the wheel of the #16 Odyssey Motorsports entry.

Parker Kligerman was again faced with the challenge of a dominant Rossi but the seven-time race winner simply didn’t have the pace to halt his rival’s superb run at the head of the pack. Kligerman’s performance was still noteworthy for the fact that he started the race from an uncharacteristically low fifth place grid slot. The 1600 points leader wasted little time in scything his way through the field to take the runner-up spot to Rossi.

Behind the leaders Luis Martinez Jr. enjoyed a strong run to take third at the checkered flag. Bouncing back from a disappointing Round 9, he made amends by capturing his fourth podium of the season. Billy Goshen finished fourth once again but moves up to second in the title chase with this weekend’s races being awarded double points.

Round 10 Results: 1st Rossi, 2nd Kligerman, 3rd Martinez Jr., 4th Goshen, 5th Malsam, 6th Lynch, 7th Grisdale, 8th Smutny, 9th Kenney - DNF

1st – Alexander Rossi: “It was great to score another pole position this morning and even better to take another win. I led pretty much led all the way and overall the weekend’s results have put me back up in the championship despite missing some races which is cool.”

2nd – Parker Kligerman: “We struggled again a bit and it didn’t help that I was blocked in qualifying. I got up to second by the third lap and started closing in on Alex but then the yellow flags came out. I lead for a bit on the front stretch at the restart but was blocked by a slower car and fell back. Overall the team did a good job and we stayed on the podium.”

3rd – Martinez Jr.: “I qualified third today but fell back to fourth at the start of the race. I made my way back to third and held on from there to take the finish. I’m very happy to be back on the podium!”

The Formula TR 1600 Championship now heads to California Speedway, California for Rounds 11 & 12, July 15th.

Rossi Races to Podium at Reno-Fernley Raceway

Round 9 – Saturday June 24th: Odyssey Motorsports’ Alexander Rossi capitalized on his pole position to take the first win of the weekend in the Formula TR 1600 class at the 4-mile Reno-Fernley Raceway. Heading into Saturday’s 10-lap race Rossi had been the only driver to depose series leader Parker Kligerman from the top step of the podium, his first win coming back in Round 4 at Buttonwillow.

Rossi’s second win of the year saw him beat Paladin Motorsport’s Kligerman once again although having missed three races in the first half of the season, Kligerman’s grip on the championship remains strong despite his rival’s triumph in Nevada. As if Odyssey Motorsports needed an excuse to celebrate following Rossi’s win, it was a double celebration for the squad at the end of Round 9 as Tayler Malsam piloted the #19 Odyssey car to the third and final podium spot – his first top-three finish of the season.

It proved to be a disappointing outing for Luis Martinez Jr. in the #5 Kimball Williams Racing entry as he dropped back from his third place qualifying effort to come home fifth at the checkered behind a solid run from Billy Goshen in fourth, the Californian racer missing out on his fifth straight podium finish.

Having been absent from the previous double-header round at Miller Motorsports Park, CT Motorsport’s Cam Grisdale and Kerstin Smutny returned to Formula TR 1600 competition scoring sixth and eighth place finishes respectively sandwiching Kerry Lynch in seventh. Liam Kenney kicked off a nightmare weekend finishing three laps down in ninth.

Round 9 Results: 1st Rossi, 2nd Kligerman, 3rd Malsam, 4th Goshen, 5th Martinez Jr., 6th Grisdale, 7th Lynch, 8th Smutny, 9th Kenney

1st – Alexander Rossi: “It’s awesome to win again! Parker had the jump on me leading into turn 1 but I got him back on the hairpin and I continued to lead from there. It’s a great feeling to be back on the top step of the podium.

2nd – Parker Kligerman: “We didn’t test here and that meant we struggled a bit. I didn’t feel I had the car to compete today. The track was pretty dirty as well, if you went off line you ran onto the marbles – I’d never really dealt with conditions like that before.”

3rd – Tayler Malsam: “It was cool to get my first podium finish of the season. The car was great in the race. It had been really loose in practice but we got things figured out in time for the race. It’s a real boost to score a podium, hopefully there’s more to come.”