RSPORTS was an
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...
team that competed in the
Champ Car World Series
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...
. It was founded officially in 2007 as a technological partnership, but started out originally as two different teams owned by former race car drivers Carl Russo, who owned
RuSPORT, and Paul Gentilozzi who founded
Rocketsports.
RuSPORT
Carl Russo drove for the team then known as Performance Development and Racing, or PDR which was owned by Steve Wulff before Russo drove in the
Toyota Atlantic Series before he gave up his seat to young driver
Aaron Justus. Justus and
A. J. Allmendinger were drivers in the team's 2003 Atlantic season, and Allmendinger cruised to the championship with seven victories from 11 starts.
Both RuSPORT and Allmendinger moved up to Champ Car in 2004, and added a second car at the 11th hour for
Michel Jourdain Jr. to keep car count at the minimum of 18. Most of the team's resources were stretched and Jourdain and the team parted ways following the season.
Justin Wilson was signed as a replacement for 2005.
The 2005 season was the team's breakout year with Wilson scoring two victories and finishing third in the championship. Allmendinger came close to victory, with four runner-up finishes during the season. For 2006 they were expected to be the top challengers to
Newman/Haas Racing
Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in the CART and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enth ...
. Midway through the season, the team replaced Allmendinger with 2002 CART champion
Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004.
Career biography
Origins and early ca ...
who moved over to the team from
Dale Coyne Racing
Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Co ...
.
Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004.
Career biography
Origins and early ca ...
was injured in a collision with a deer during testing at
Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Ch ...
on August 3, 2006.
On September 17, 2006, the team announced that it would hold a "shootout" at
Sebring Raceway
Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida.
Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run ...
to determine who would drive the #10 car in the final two races of the season. On October 9, it was revealed that the winner of the shootout was Australian
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing thi ...
, who would make his first appearance for the team at his home race, the
Lexmark Indy 300.
Rocketsports
Rocketsports Racing is a motor racing team from the United States based in
East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. Most of the city lies within Ingham County with a smaller portion extending north into Clinton County. At the 2020 Census the population was 47,741. Located directly east of the state capital ...
. It competes in the
Champ Car World Series
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...
and the
Grand-Am
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
Series in the
Daytona Prototype
A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specificall ...
class.
Rocketsports was founded in 1985 by racing driver
Paul Gentilozzi to compete in the
Trans-Am
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
series. It competed in Trans-Am until 2004, when the championship was cancelled, and achieved 57 outright wins in 20 years. It has also raced in the
IMSA
The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dir ...
sports car racing championship.
Rocketsports joined Champ Car in 2003 and has often fielded cars for
pay driver
A pay driver is a driver for a professional auto racing team who, instead of being paid by the owner of their car, drives for free and brings with them either personal sponsorship or personal or family funding to finance the team's operations. Th ...
s and frequently changes drivers.
Merge and disassemble
Towards the end of the 2006 season, Russo announced that he would be bringing his company public, a move that required that he divest himself of his sometimes unprofitable motorsports interests. It was unclear what would happen to the team until it was announced on November 28 that
PKV Racing
Padayatt Kesavapillai Vasudevan Nair (2 March 1926 – 12 July 2005), popularly known as PKV, was the 9th Chief Minister of Kerala and a senior leader of the Communist Party of India (CPI). He was elected to the Lok Sabha four times, in 1957, ...
co-owner
Dan Pettit had purchased the team from Russo.
On January 22, 2007, RuSPORT confirmed the return of
Justin Wilson and title sponsor,
CDW. They reportedly signed Wilson to a multi year contrac
Along with Wilson's return, RuSport announced that they would form a technological partnership with Rocketsports, to be known as RSPORTS. This would involve the signing of
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani (; born October 18, 1973), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for 22 Racing.
Tagliani has competed in a variety ...
to the team's #8 machine. However, success came in the form of the team's only 2007 victory with Wilson in
Assen
Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Sund ...
. Nearing the end of the 2007 season, Petit and Gentilozzi announced that they would be splitting their operations for 2008, but Petit would partner with
Gerry Forsythe to form
Forsythe/Pettit Racing
Forsythe/Pettit Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing.
Histor ...
.
Past Drivers
*
Alex Tagliani
Alexandre Tagliani (; born October 18, 1973), nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for 22 Racing.
Tagliani has competed in a variety ...
(2007)
*
Justin Wilson (2007)
Racing results
Complete Champ Car World Series results
(
key)
{{Champ Car teams
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American auto racing teams
Auto racing teams established in 2007
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