Rocketsports Racing San Jose Race Report
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Heather Haupt ▪ cell: (517) 927-8472 ▪ e-mail: heatherh@rocketsportsracing.com FASTEST ROOKIE OF THE WEEKEND, GLOCK MATCHES BEST FINISH OF THE SEASON SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 31, 2005) – After a disastrous morning warm-up session, Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year points leader Timo Glock raced the DHL Global Mail/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone to match his best Champ Car career finish of sixth, while Ryan Hunter-Reay did his best to have a good run despite having problems from the start. After light contact with the wall during morning warm-up, the #8 DHL Global Mail crew had their hands full to repair the damage before the green flag dropped. The Rocketsports team had to repair a broken bell housing and change the gear box. With time to spare, the yellow and red Lola rolled out to the grid and took it place. Taking the green flag from the eighth starting spot, the German native worked his way to fifth on lap 20. As the whole 18-car field experienced braking problems, the rookie held on to finish the race in one piece, bringing the car home sixth. Glock, who was the fastest rookie all weekend on the street of San Jose, was honored for finishing the race as the top rookie and received a trophy for his result. Extending his Rookie-of-the-Year lead, the German now sits eleven points ahead of Ronnie Bremer. He remains ninth in the overall Champ Car championship standings with a total of 109 points and sits second to 2004 Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais in laps completed this season. Things on the other side of the Rocketsports team were not looking promising either, as after contact was also made by Hunter-Reay during the warm-up session, damaging the other Lola in the two-car Rocketsports Champ Car effort. Heavy contact with the wall bent the right front suspension on the #31 Cytomax Sport Drink/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, as the car was towed into the garage area needing serious work. The #31 crew went full speed ahead, repairing the front suspension and performing an engine change. The car was ready to go for the start of the race this afternoon, but immediately experienced problems before taking the green flag. With the engine just cutting out on him during his third parade lap, the American had to get bump started by the Champ Car Safety team before starting the race. By lap 18, Hunter-Reay was sitting twelfth when his suspension broke due to a rough course when he was driving down the straightaway. His crew went to work in the pits, repairing the damage and sent the third-year Champ Car driver back out. 18 laps later, the #31 Lola pulled in to the runoff area for the third time of the afternoon with a mechanical failure that would end his day for good. Hunter-Reay finished 14th in today’s Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose. Rocketsports Racing will head back to East Lansing and prepare for Round 9 of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford in Denver, Colorado on August 14th. Quotes Timo Glock, #8 DHL Global Mail/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone driver “Wow, what a race. It was more physical for the car than the drivers, that is for sure. We started out well today, seventh was not a bad place to be on the grid. We had a good race, the main goal was to stay clean – and that is exactly what we were able to accomplish this afternoon. We were a little slow in the pits today, causing us to lose two spots during one of our stops. That was because when I was coming in, my brake pedal fell to the floor and I had problems stopping. But I am proud that we finished, and I was able to match my best result of my rookie season, obtaining valuable points for the rookie-of-the-year battle and the championship. I want to thank my Rocketsports crew, who did an amazing job today to get me out there this afternoon after my morning warm up incident. They are just terrific and this is for them.” Ryan Hunter-Reay, #31 Cytomax Sport Drink/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone driver “The guys did a fantastic job of getting the car ready to race after this mornings practice. Unfortunately, problems before the race forced us to take the green flag from the rear. I set a good pace and past a car and picked up a few positions then the suspension failed going over the tracks. We fixed the Cytomax car in the pits and went out to pick up a few more position by attrition but the same problem we had at the beginning of the race ended our day early.” Paul Gentilozzi, Rocketsports Team Owner “We have a terrific crew and it just goes to show how great they are by their accomplishments from this morning. They worked very hard to get the cars back together after a disastrous warm up session. This is a good come back, for Timo and the team as a whole. We have been struggling this season, there is no question about that, but that does not mean that we are not capable of running on top. The last two races we have been doing better than we had been, but there is definitely more to come out of this team and I look forward to the rest of the season to show what we can do!” - rsr - Subscriptions: [Champ Car Press Releases] Change subscriptions: http://rocket.cmagic.com/index.php?option=com_mamml&Itemid=&action=unregistered&type=unregistered&userid=1029&test=6a5e400455253ffe31d6baa62f1590c7