American racing driver Alexander Rossi has been confirmed to drive for the Fortec Motorsports team competing in the World Series by Renault (aka Formula Renault 3.5 series) Championship.
Rossi ran the GP3 Series last year, winning two races and placing fourth in points. He also made a promising World Series debut in Monaco, and topped the times in the series' 2010 postseason tests in Motorland Aragon, Spain.
Fortec Motorsports has competed in a number of high-profile series including Formula 3, Formula 3000, Formula Renault, Formula BMW and now Formula Renault 3.5 Series. The team has an enviable record, with eight drivers titles and six team titles to its name.
"Coming off a number of very strong winter tests in 2010, I was confident that we would be able to find a good solution for the 2011 season," said Rossi. "When Fortec approached us to join them for this year's assault on WSR we were thrilled. They have a longstanding history of success in motor racing. My goals for this year remain the same as in previous seasons and I've never been more prepared. I have full confidence in Fortec and their past results are motivation enough to deliver results for them."
Rossi, who resides in Marina de Pietrasanta, Italy is currently in Austria as a finalist for the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy Shootout. Following a further three tests in March, Alexander and Fortec Motorsports will kick off the 17-round Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship fight on April 16-17 at Motorland Aragon, Spain.
Now entering its seventh season, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series will feature 26 drivers, all of whom will be attempting to follow in the footsteps of Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Jaime Alguersuari and Pastor Maldonado to a race seat in Formula 1.
"I am delighted to have Alexander racing with us," said Richard Dutton, team principal of Fortec Motorsports. "I have watched him coming through the ranks since Formula BMW and I was impressed by his speed both back then and also now. His debut in 2010 WSR at Monaco and his pace in the winter testing with ISR showed us that he was one to have this year. Now we all look forward to our 2011 championship assault together."