Rocketsports Racing was a motor racing team 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, although a small portion extends north into Clinton County. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 47,741. The city is located immediate ...

in the United States.

Team history

Rocketsports was founded in 1985 by racing driver Paul Gentilozzi to compete in the

Trans-Am The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli 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 ...

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 Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

sports car racing championship. Rocketsports joined

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

in 2003 with driver Alex Tagliani, who scored the team's only victory at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

in 2004. In 2005 and 2006 the team 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 changed drivers. In 2007, Tagliani returned full-time and the team shared technical information with RuSPORT. This alliance was dubbed RSPORTS, and took a race win with RuSPORT's Justin Wilson. However, the alliance ended at the end of the season. In 2008, following the unification of Champ Car and the IRL, Rocketsports announced that it would not transition to the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

. They did compete in the Champ Car finale at

Long Beach Grand Prix The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in Downtown Long Beach, downtown Long Beach, California. It was the premier race on the ...

, with drivers Antônio Pizzonia, who competed for Rocketsports at Long Beach in 2006, and Juho Annala. Since the demise of Champ Car, Rocketsports has competed in the revived Trans-Am Series with driver Tomy Drissi, winning the 2009 championship.Trans-Am Wraps 2009 Season at Road America This Weekend
, Sports Car Club of America, September 19, 2009, Retrieved 2009-10-02 Gentilozzi went on to form RSR Racing in 2009.

Drivers that have competed for Rocketsports in Champ Car

* Juho Annala (2008) * Mario Dominguez (2006) * Memo Gidley (2004) * Timo Glock (2005) * Ryan Hunter-Reay (2005) *

Tõnis Kasemets Tõnis Kasemets (born March 17, 1974) is an Estonian racing driver and a former competitor in the CART Champ Car World Series. He won the 2022 IMSA Prototype Challenge championship. Career Kasemets started racing karts in 1982, winning the Bal ...

(2006) * Michael McDowell (2005) * Nicky Pastorelli (2006) * Nelson Philippe (2004) * Antônio Pizzonia (2006, 2008) * Guy Smith (2004) * Alex Tagliani (2003–2004, 2007)

Racing results

Complete CART / Champ Car World Series results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) # Competed as RSPORTS at Rds. 1–10.

Complete IndyCar Series results

( key) # Run to

specifications. # Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

References

External links

{{Champ Car teams Grand American Road Racing Association teams Champ Car teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams American auto racing teams Companies based in Ingham County, Michigan Sports in Lansing, Michigan American Le Mans Series teams Auto racing teams established in 1985 1985 establishments in Michigan IndyCar Series teams Auto racing teams disestablished in 2009