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Formula BMW Americas announced today that
Canadian Alexander Ellis, 17, of St. Catherines,
Ontario; Cuban-American Roberto Garcia, 17, of
Houston, Texas, and Dominican Daniel Vela, 14,
of Miami, Florida, have been named as the first
three recipients of a 2009 Formula BMW Americas
Junior Scholarship. A fourth Formula BMW Junior
scholarship will be awarded to the winner of
this season’s Rookie Champion.
The Formula BMW Americas Junior scholarship
awards $80,000 and automatic enrollment in
Formula BMW’s Education and Coaching program.
Chosen from 11 participants invited to the
September 29 - 30 qualifying shoot-out held at
the Formula BMW Racing Center at the Circuit de
la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo, in
Valencia, Spain these young men join an
exclusive group of Formula BMW Americas Juniors.
Since its inaugural 2004 season, Formula BMW
Americas has awarded 24 Formula BMW Junior
scholarships and in each year a Formula BMW
Junior has figured at the top of the results.
2004 – Rookie Champion – James Hinchcliffe; 2005
– Overall and Rookie Champion – Richard
Phillippe; 2006 – Overall Champion – Robert
Wickens; 2007 Overall Champion – Daniel Morad.
The 2008 Formula BMW Americas Championship will
conclude along with the Formula One World
Championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Nov.
2. Alexander Rossi wrapped up the Overall
Championship with a win in Round 14. The final
two Rounds will determine the winner of this
year’s Rookie championship and recipient of the
remaining Junior scholarship. The battle is a
close one with four drivers, Gianmarco Raimondo,
Mikael Grenier, Alexandre Ruiz (all three
Formula BMW Juniors) and Giancarlo Vilarinho
separated by only 12 points.
Background:
Formula BMW is the world’s leading entry-level
series in formula racing. In 2008 the three
Formula BMW series – Formula BMW Europe, Formula
BMW Pacific and Formula BMW Americas – will be
held in the key motor sport markets of Europe,
pan-Asia and North and South America. The end of
the year will see the Formula BMW World Final
staged for the fourth time, this time at Mexico
City’s “Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez” from the
5th to the 7th December. The winner will be
granted the opportunity of a test drive with the
BMW Sauber F1 Team. Formula BMW will be held on
the undercard of Formula One on 12 occasions.
The series gives young racing talents the chance
to enter professional motor sport in a safe
racing car – the Formula BMW FB02.
The FB02 has been in use since season 2002. It
is powered by a 140 hp BMW engine that takes it
to a top speed of up to 230 km/h. It ranks among
the safest vehicles in its category and exceeds
the FIA safety regulations that govern this
class of car. Innovations such as the FORS
(Formula Rescue Seat) were developed by BMW
Motorsport specifically for Formula BMW.
Following Formula One, Formula BMW was the first
single-seater series outside the US in which the
HANS system was made mandatory.
Formula BMW drivers have the opportunity to take
part in an Education and Coaching Program that
runs parallel with the racing season. The
program includes driver coaching at the races by
professional race drivers, attending a Formula
One test, fitness courses, tuition in driving
technique and strategy, as well as seminars on
sponsoring and sport management.
Among the 20 team drivers in this season’s
Formula One, there are now four Formula BMW
graduates: Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian
Vettel and Timo Glock. The test and reserve
drivers add three more to the tally, namely
Christian Klien, Sebastien Buemi and Nicolas
Hülkenberg.
In the words of BMW Motorsport Director Mario
Theissen: “With our worldwide Formula BMW
concept, we offer drivers and teams a platform
which, in this format, is unprecedented in a
junior series and which allows them to benefit
from our Formula One involvement. Through
Formula BMW the drivers are equipped with the
tools they need to assert themselves
successfully in the world of professional motor
racing.”
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