AU SUJET DE ROCKETSPORTS RACING
Based in Lansing, Michigan, Rocketsports Racing was formed in 1985 and has grown into one of the most diverse and accomplished companies of its kind in North America. The Rocketsports name has long been associated with multiple victories in Trans-Am, IMSA GTO and GTS Competition, for team owner and four-time Trans-Am Series Champion, Paul Gentilozzi.

Rocketsports has also established a significant presence in the open-wheel scene with a two-car effort in the Champ Car World Series. In addition to their success on track, Rocketsports has become a leader in race engine and chassis design and construction.

Gentilozzi’s pursuit of fast cars started when he won his first race in March of 1966. The competition took place on Interstate 496 in Michigan – which at the time was not yet open to traffic. The prize money, a used twenty-dollar bill, marked the first investment in his 40-year racing venture. In this time, the organization has kept its focus on building fast cars and racing to win. To this end, Rocketsports has claimed sixty-six professional victories as a team and eleven championship titles, including Manufacturer's Championships for Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Ford Mustang and Jaguar.

In 18 years of Trans-Am racing, the Rocketsports team has claimed 57 Trans-Am wins. Rocketsports has built more than fifty race cars and literally hundreds of engines, including the Oldsmobile Aurora engine used in the 1997 IRL season, which produced three Indy 500 Qualifiers.

In addition, to a successful multi-car effort in the Trans-Am Series, Rocketsports Racing branched out to open-wheel racing for the first time in 2003 joining the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. While the Rocketsports name was new to the Champ Car World Series, it brought together a force of reputable experts familiar with the Champ Car paddock. The team achieved impressive results in their first year with Alex Tagliani. The new crew and driver were among the first in Champ Car history to prove their strength with a third-place podium finish in the second race of their rookie year. Tagliani earned the sophomore team its first victory at Road America in Round Eight of the 2004 Champ Car season.

In 2004 the Rocketsports Champ Car team further expanded to include the No. 17 Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, driven by 17-year-old Nelson Philippe. Once again, Rocketsports dabbled in Champ Car history by introducing the youngest driver ever permitted to drive a Champ Car to the competition. In five starts for Rocketsports, the French teenager proved himself immediately with solid, consistent results early in his debut season.

Champ Car fan favorite, Memo Gidley drove the No. 17 Lola to its best qualifying position of the season (fifth) in Round Seven at the Molson Indy Vancouver. Following Gidley’s two temporary drives with Rocketsports, Guy Smith took the seat of the No.17 car for the balance of the season in Round Eight in the 2004 Champ Car World Series at Road America. Smith earned a top-ten finish with Rocketsports in his debut Champ Car race.

2005 welcomed two new drivers to the dynamic lineup. Ryan Hunter-Reay entered his third Champ Car season behind the #31 Rocketsports machine. As a product of the Champ Car ladder system, the young American was a proven race winner in the Champ Car World Series. Former F1 test driver, rookie Timo Glock made his Champ Car debut this season in the #8 Rocketsports car after making four starts in Formula One the previous year. The German was a graduate of the Deutsche Post Speed Academy and made his way through the European racing lines. With two races remaining, Rocketsports offered the opportunity of a lifetime for American rising star Michael McDowell putting him behind one of its Champ Cars to work with Glock for the remainder of the season. Rocketsports demonstrated its ability to produce reliable race cars for their drivers, as Glock finished second in most laps completed to two-time Champ Car Champion Sebastien Bourdais. Crowned Rookie-of-the-Year, Glock finished eighth overall, one of only two rookies to finish in the top ten of the championship standings.

This year, Rocketsports Racing opened a new chapter entering the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Presented by Crown Royal Premium Select. Gentilozzi and long-time teamate Tomy Drissi will compete in select events in the No. 50 Ford Crawford. Gentilozzi already hold a victory in Grand American with a GTS class win in the 2002 24 Hours at Daytona.

Rocketsports maintains its competitive drive with great results through the vision of its leader and the hard work of many dedicated employees, who define “teamwork.” The core group of Rocketsports' key members is well into their second decade working together. Rocketsports’ crew chiefs, team leaders, and mechanics have more than a hundred and sixty years of combined experience. With outstanding drivers in two professional series, committed sponsors and tremendously loyal fans, look for Rocketsports to continue as one of the most accomplished teams in motorsports today.

THE RACE SHOP
Built in 1998, Rocketsports moved in after a massive expansion in 2003 bringing the square footage of the facility to 28,000. Nestled on a 10 acre wooded site in East Lansing's Northern Tier Developement, the Rocketsports Racing Headquarters houses the efforts for both the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford and the Grand American Rolex Series, plus race car car fabrication and the engine developement facilities.

The faciltity features:
Truck Bay
135 feet long X 65 feet wide
Space for 4 full size semi tractors with 53' trailers
Areas for storage / cleaning / pit stop practice
Due to weather at the time of construction over 4000 cubic feet of concrete were poured in one day for the floor and driveways

Main Shop
4 car bays with storage and Lista cabinets.
Separate areas for
-shock assembly
-gearbox
-part inspection
-part cleaning
-electronics
-carbon fabrication
-CNC machining room with 12" reinforced concrete foundation

Full machine shop containing:
-(2) Long bed Colchester Lathes
-(2) Clausing Mills with Accu-Rite CNC Control
-Allsteel 2-Axis CNC bender
-Allsteel CNC shear
-Manual fabriacting equipment, punches, shears, rollers, and notchers.
-Surface and manual grinding equipment
-Drill presses
-17' X 10' X 1" thick steel chassis table
-Cooled TIG welding equipment
-Kondia CNC vertical machining center
-Colchester slant bed CNC lathe
-Well over 4000 pounds of metal stock including
Titanium
4 types of Aluminum alloy
10 types of Steel and Stainless Steel
Inconel
Brass
Bronze
3 types of Renshape epoxy modeling board and prototype foam
Various other prototying and unusual material

Engine specific machine area containing
-3' X 4' X 1' thick granite surface plate
-Sunnen engine hone w/ hot honing capacity
-Sunnen small hone
-Sunnen cylinder decking machine
-Sunnen guide and seat machine
-Lathe

Dynamometer Test Cell
-Sealed room utilizing Aereated Autoclaved Concrete panels with an 8 hour
fire rating and sound supression
-1000 gallon captive water system
-DTS 1000HP engine dyno
-Fully controllable intake air / water feed and return / exhaust air
-40,000 cubic feet per minute room air exhaust
-Dual 12 inch diameter GT Exhaust Systems silencers totaling 14 feet tall
and over 1 ton in weight. Capable of reducing a full race engine at 9500
RPM to 70 decibels at the point of exhaust.
-40 channel data acquisition system