Watkins Glen: Rocketsports Racing preview

Rocketsports Racing Ready to Defend at The Glen

EAST LANSING, Michigan (July 8, 2009) - Fresh out of victory circle, Rocketsports Racing is geared up and ready for win number two in the 2009 Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Watkins Glen is a road course that has an international reputation as one of the world's premier venues and Trans-Am is fortunate to have it on the 2009 schedule. Rocketsports Racing has not been to The Glen since the late 1990s. In seven years of competition on the short course, the team has made 22 starts which resulted in two poles, seven top-five finishes including one victory by team owner Paul Gentilozzi.

While the advantage seems to be with the team from its previous history, Trans-Am switches things up this season by opting to run the long course at The Glen. The 3.37-mile course will add a new challenge for the team and for drivers Tomy Drissi and Daniel Ramoutarsingh - who will be participating in their first Trans-Am event at The Glen. With a Drivers' Championship title (Drivers' Championship Point Standings Top Three: 1 - Tomy Drissi (143), 2 -Tony Ave (125), 3 - Simon Gregg (91)) and a Rookie title (Rookie-of-the-Year Point Standings Top Three: 1 - Glenn Jung (87), 2 - Daniel Ramoutarsingh (71), 3 - Edison Lluch (65)) close to reach, both drivers and crews will be reaching a little deeper in this round of the championship as it nears the end.

The long course has considerable elevation changes much like Mosport and Mid-Ohio. It has a few corner combinations that are very technical and not for the faint of heart and can cause a classic case of "helium of the right ankle". One is turn two and up the hill through turn three and four. It is very fast, requires perfect car placement and the reward for poor judgment here is a big crash.

Leading the Drivers' Championship by 18 points, Drissi heads to Watkins Glen coming off his first win in 2009. New livery will be seen on his #5 Jaguar XKR; as the owner of Drissi Advertising will be promoting 20th Century Fox's new movie by James Cameron, Avatar. While he has had previous experience at The Glen, which includes participating in the 2006 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series event with Rocketsports Racing in a Ford-Crawford Daytona Prototype, this will be the Hollywood, California-native's first run in a Trans-Am car.

"What a great race track; there is such history at The Glen, including Formula One racing there", said Drissi. "I have not had a lot of time on this track, but I have been there a couple of times. So I am looking forward to getting reacquainted and logging more miles. This will be the first time I run at The Glen in a Trans-Am car; it should be a great experience. Hopefully we can run for the win, but just as important is to get some good points this weekend to extend our lead in the Drivers' Championship."

While Drissi will be making his 82nd Trans-Am start this weekend, teammate Ramoutarsingh continues his Trans-Am rookie campaign in 2009 and will be making his sixth start driving the #8 Trinrico Steel & Wire Products Jaguar XKR. The Trinidadian current sits fifth in the point standings trailing Rookie-of-the-Year leader Glen Jung by 16 points.

"I am very excited about going to The Glen," Ramoutarsingh said. "It is a very famous place; a track that has hosted some of the best drivers in the world. I am looking forward to the challenge. After a tough weekend in Portland, it is going to be a very important weekend in terms of regaining our position in the point standings. We are coming up to the end of the season, so I need to have some strong results. I had some unfortunate circumstances, but I am going to keep pushing and hopefully things will end in a more positive manner this weekend."

The Watkins Glen Trans-Am race weekend will kick off on Friday, with a Promoter's Test Day. Saturday is another day of practice before qualifying and the race on Sunday. Round 6 of the 2009 Trans-Am Series will take place on Sunday, July 12 with the 27-lap race scheduled to take the green flag at 4:45 p.m. EDT.

A race recap will be available on www.rocketsportsracing.com following the event. For more information, check out the team's website or www.sccatrans-am.com.

-credit: rsr