Rossi wins second IFM race at Imola
Alexander Rossi won the final International Formula Master race of the season at Imola on Sunday
The 17-year-old American moved up to second place on the first lap when reverse grid pole sitter Simon Trummer spun out of the lead at Turn 2.
Rossi then chased down new leader Erik Janis and heaped pressure on his Czech team-mate for several laps. He eventually made a move for the lead stick at Tamburello and pulled away. Rossi had to push right to the end though, as Josef Kral also made his way past Janis and closed briefly before the end.
"I was racing my team-mate today and you have to be a bit more careful in those cases but I kept pushing harder and harder, and eventually the opportunity was there and I took it," said Rossi.
"Once I was through, it wasn't long before Josef moved to second and I could see he was fast so I kept pushing until the chequered flag."
Sergei Afanasiev also leapt on the opportunity to pass Janis and moved up to third place, with Patrick Reiterer and Pal Varhaug completing the top six behind Janis.
Champion Fabio Leimer's inability to convert his dominant pace into results in the reverse grid Sunday races continued when he struck a kerb too hard early on and had to pit for repairs. He rejoined the race but could only finish 11th.
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Alexander Rossi ISR 27m08.579s 2. Josef Kral JD + 1.698s 3. Sergei Afanasiev JD + 2.122s 4. Erik Janis ISR + 5.007s 5. Patrick Reiterer Iris + 8.146s 6. Pal Varhaug Jenzer + 9.166s 7. Vlado Arabadjiev JD + 9.703s 8. Nicolas Maulini Jenzer + 10.850s 9. Kelvin Snoeks AR + 20.250s 10. Tiago Petiz Cram + 29.206s 11. Fabio Leimer Jenzer + 42.153s 12. Simon Trummer Iris + 1m07.250s Retirements: Frankie Provenzano Cram 8 laps
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