Rocketsports Racing Denver Preview
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Heather Haupt ▪ cell: (517) 927-8472 ▪ e-mail: heatherh@rocketsportsracing.com Rocketsports Racing Denver Pre-Race Notes and Quotes: ROCKETSPORTS READY TO TAKE TO THE STREETS OF THE MILE HIGH CITY EAST LANSING, Mich. (August 9, 2005) – As the halfway marker in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford hit after Round 8 in Edmonton, skeptics doubted the capability of the Rocketsports team this season, but the East Lansing-based squad proved them wrong by starting the weekend in San Jose placing Timo Glock and Ryan Hunter-Reay’s names on top of the timing and scoring charts. It has not been a picture perfect season for the third-year team, but the Rocketsports team heads to each event with their heads held high and ready to compete. One thing that they are accomplishing is consistency with the #8 DHL Global Mail/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone driven by Glock. The young German is currently leading in the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year standings, thanks to six top-ten finishes in eight races. Solidly running in the top ten in Monterrey and looking for his best Champ Car finish of fourth in Edmonton, Glock was unable to take the checkered flag running a few laps shy due to incidents that were out of his control on course. Finishing sixth in San Jose, the 23-year-old driver matched his best Champ Car result that he recorded during his series debut in Long Beach. Glock sits as the only rookie in the top ten of the Champ Car championship standings in ninth with 109 points. He is currently second on the Series Leader Report for Laps Completed, running 826 of a possible 841 laps this season, completing 1,375.847 miles. A key factor to why this rookie sits at the top of the rookie class as he is obtaining a lot of valuable on-track time, which is furthering his learning curve in the Champ Car series. A driver who has not been making the headlines, but should be applauded for his effort is Hunter-Reay. The third year Champ Car driver may know his way around the Champ Car circuits, but has not had consistency throughout his career racing in Champ Car as his years in the series equals the number of teams he has driven for. Earning his best finish of sixth on the streets of Toronto, the American has had a rough season that has seen him finish only half the races, while the rest of the events he suffered contact, mechanical and electrical failures. However his unlucky streak only motivates the 24-year-old to push his #31 Cytomax Sport Drink/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone even harder in search of his third win. A proven race winner, Hunter-Reay’s best Champ Car start of eighth on the 1.65-mile temporary street course in Denver during 2004 saw him run most of the afternoon in the seventh spot until lap 73, when contact was made that ended his day, resulting in a 16th place finish. Qualifying is very important here, as there are not many opportunities to pass on the Denver circuit, making it hard to move up through the field during the race. Hunter-Reay is aware of this factor and will focus on improving his best starting position this season of seventh this weekend. The Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver Presented by PacifiCare kicks off in the streets of downtown Denver on Friday, August 12. Final qualifying will be held on Saturday afternoon to determine the grid order for Round 9 of 14 in the Champ Car World Series. The race will take the green flag in the Mile High City on Sunday at 1:45 p.m. local time and can be seen live on SPEED Channel at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time, following a 30-minute Champ Car qualifying show that will start at 3:00 p.m. ET. - 1 of 2 - Notes Formed in 1985 by racecar driver and businessman Paul Gentilozzi, Rocketsports Racing is based in East Lansing, Michigan. In addition to a two-car Champ Car entry, the team runs a multi-car effort in the Trans-Am Series. Rocketsports Champ Car entry started in 2003. The team expanded to a two-car endeavor in 2004. Hunter-Reay will drive the #31 Cytomax Sport Drink car and Glock will pilot the #8 DHL Global Mail machine. Rocketsports has recorded one victory (Road America, 2004) and two poles (Milwaukee, Montreal, 2003). Hunter-Reay is a product of the Champ Car ladder system. Coming up through the ranks, Hunter-Reay last participated in the Toyota Atlantic Championship before making his way into Champ Car. Hunter-Reay has recorded two Champ Car victories (Australia, 2003, Milwaukee, 2004) in two years of competition. He also holds the record for leading the most laps in a single event in the history of Champ Car, making him the youngest driver to win a Champ Car oval race and is the first American in over two decades to win a Champ Car race as a rookie. Representing Germany in the Champ Car World Series, Glock is a graduate of the Deutsche Post Speed Academy and has shown his driving talents by winning multiple championships and honors throughout the European ranks. Glock, a former Formula driver, started as a test driver during 2004 in a season that saw him make his F1 debut, followed by three other appearances (China, Japan, and Brazil). This is Glock’s first season in the Champ Car World Series. The Centrix Financial Grand Prix of Denver Presented by PacifiCare will mark the 41st start for Rocketsports in the Champ Car World Series. Quotes Timo Glock #8 DHL Global Mail/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone “Coming off a good run in San Jose, we now head to Denver, which appears to be a similar course to the one we just raced on. I was running in top five most of the weekend, so I am confident we can start off strong this weekend. I am excited to race there, as I hear it is a good race and the fans are great supporters. I will head out on Friday and get a feel for the track and we will go from there. We have what it takes to be running up front, what we are lacking is pure luck. I don’t know what else we can do; something always happens that hinders our potential. I could collect all the lucky charms in the world, but I don’t think it will make a difference. I just hope things can go our way and we can make it on top of the podium this weekend in Denver.” Ryan Hunter-Reay #31 Cytomax Sport Drink/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone “San Jose we showed that we can run in the top of the field, but when it came down to qualifying and the race, we just didn’t have things go our way. I know that the Rocketsports team is capable of getting better results then we have been, and we proved that in San Jose. I am looking forward to Denver because it is a similar course. We can apply what we learned in San Jose and hopefully be quick from the start. Denver is a great place to visit. The promoters of this race do such a wonderful job and the circuit has such a great racing atmosphere. It is a great city to race in, and it has now become one of the main venues on the Champ Car schedule. The fans are terrific, they all come out to support us, so I hope that we can put on a good show for them and I hope that I will be on the podium at the end of the weekend.” - RSR - Subscriptions: [Champ Car Press Releases] Change subscriptions: http://rocket.cmagic.com/index.php?option=com_mamml&Itemid=&action=unregistered&type=unregistered&userid=1294&test=a316e055424f1abe35a0c84e23d899f1