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2006 CHAMP CARS         

ROUND 5: June 18 Portland Intl Raceway Portland, OR

RACE RESULT & REPORT

• A.J. ALLMENDINGER BECOMES FIRST U.S.-BORN DRIVER TO WIN CHAMP CAR RACE SINCE 2004 WITH DOMINANT FIRST VICTORY IN PORTLAND
• PORTLAND (June 18, 2006) , A.J. Allmendinger (#7 Indeck Ford- Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) chose The Who's I'm Free as the song to accompany him to today's pre-race introductions at Portland International Raceway, as he approached his first Champ Car race with Forsythe Championship Racing after switching teams just one week ago.
• As it turns out, Allmendinger's background tune couldn't have been more prophetic for the young American. Starting from the second spot on the grid, Allmendinger unexpectedly found himself free of his pursuers at the start of Sunday's G.I. Joe's Presents The Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland, and he used that new-found freedom to sprint to the first win of his Champ Car World Series career.
• Allmendinger led 100 of the day's 105 laps in collecting his first Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford victory in front of a race-day crowd of 44,065. The 24-year-old fought off a strong mid-race challenge from former teammate Justin Wilson (#9 CDW Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) to become the first U.S.-born driver to win a Champ Car race since Ryan Hunter-Reay won in Milwaukee in 2004. The race that was the second-fastest ever run at Portland, featured just one caution for a misaligned start, and saw every car running at the end of the race for the first time in Portland history.
• Wilson battled back from a seven-second deficit to pressure Allmendinger with 40 laps to go, but then had to focus on holding off series points leader Sebastien Bourdais (#1 McDonald's Ford- Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) before settling for second while two-time defending Champ Car titlist Bourdais rounded out the podium in third.
• After the first attempt at a race start brought out the yellow flag, Allmendinger emerged from the first green-flag trip through Portland's famous Festival Curves with the lead as polesitter Bruno Junqueira (#2 Hole In The Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) fell back to fourth. The scramble at the start saw major changes in the order as rookie Dan Clarke (#14 CTE Racing , HVM Ford-Cosworth/Lola/ Bridgestone) climbed from sixth to second while Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) vaulted from 10th to fifth. On the alternate end of those climbers was not only Junqueira, but also Bourdais, who tumbled from third to seventh as the lineup took shape on the first trip around the 1.964-mile PIR layout.
• Allmendinger powered away from Clarke and Wilson during the first stint of the race, building a three-second lead over the rookie, with Wilson three seconds farther back. Clarke would bow out of the second spot with a flat tire after 22 laps, promoting Wilson to the second spot as the field prepared for the first round of pit stops.
• Battles were fierce behind the leaders as well as Bourdais tried to recover from the problem at the start, while Tracy, Junqueira and Cristiano da Matta (#10 RuSPORT Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) went nose-to-tail for spots three through six. Tracy passed Junqueira for third before initiating the first round of pit stops, while the rest of the leaders made their stops during the next three laps. The cycle ended up with Allmendinger back in the lead by more than six seconds over Wilson while Clarke had come back to third after getting his punctured Bridgestone Potenza repaired.
• Wilson took advantage of Allmendinger having to deal with lapped traffic, and steadily whittled time off the Californian's lead which shrank from 6.7 seconds on Lap 39 to 1.2 seconds just 20 laps later. Wilson pitted first for the second round of stops, with Allmendinger waiting one lap later to get service from his Forsythe squad. Allmendinger came off Pit Lane ahead of Wilson, with Wilson slotting in just behind the second-place Junqueira, who was taking one more lap to make his pit stop. Wilson made his thrust at Allmendinger one lap after Junqueira peeled off, driving hard into Turn 1, but flatspotted his right-front tire under heavy braking, creating a vibration that effectively ended his charge for the lead.
• The final set of pit stops went without incident as Allmendinger stormed away from the field, his first Champ Car win solidly in his sights. Meanwhile, Bourdais had crept up behind Wilson in a chase for second while Junqueira held off da Matta for the fourth spot. Bourdais would get to Wilson's rear wing on a pair of occasions in the closing laps but would settle for the third spot.
• Junqueira ended up fourth for his best finish of 2006 and da Matta celebrated his first race with his new RuSPORT team by rounding out the top five. Clarke not only earned top-rookie honors with a sixth- place finish, he took over the lead in the Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year standings, holding a one-point lead over Katherine Legge (#20 Bell Micro Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) after five races.
• Despite losing points to Wilson for the first time all season, Bourdais maintained his lead in the championship chase after five races, holding a 30-point lead over the Brit. Allmendinger vaulted to third with his win while Andrew Ranger (#27 Tide/Mi-Jack Ford-Cosworth/Lola/ Bridgestone) holds the fourth spot after garnering ninth-place honors today.
• The series will have a quick turnaround this week as the caravan travels West to East for next weekend's Champ Car Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by U.S. Bank. The race on the Burke Lakefront Airport circuit will be seen live on CBS Sports beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
• QUOTES FROM THE TOP THREE FINISHERS
• Sebastien Bourdais: If we keep on finishing races, he (Justin) won't have a chance, that's the truth. He knows that. He'll be out there week in, week out, and he'll try and win races. I'll try and just, you know, be there all the time. That's how we can win the championship. There's no magic. It's math. You just take the points and move on.
• Justin Wilson: Seems like we did 105 laps at qualifying pace. Every lap was flat. I got close to making a run into turn one. Locked up the right front for some reason, and that pretty much put an end to my attack. I lost front grip ever since then and had a huge vibration. We're losing time and there's also the risk of it letting go so we decided to pit early. We had a long last stint, which ultimately hurt us, made life difficult. Fortunately, I was able to stay ahead of Sebastien and claim second place.
• A.J. Allmendinger: It just absolutely amazing. I can't thank Forsythe and the whole team enough for everything they've done for me this weekend. Before the weekend even started, just stuff like travel and stuff that happen doesn't seem that big of a deal that sometimes can be trouble, they made so easy. Getting here, the group of guys were absolutely fantastic. I can't thank them enough for what they made me feel like when I got here and how comfortable I was to get in the car, out of the car, how much fun they made this weekend go.
• NOTEWORTHY
• A.J. Allmendinger became the 244th driver ever to win a Champ Car race with his victory in Portland. He set a career-high for laps led in a race by pacing 100 laps and is the sixth driver ever to claim a Champ Car win for Forsythe Championship Racing.
• The three-day attendance figure for this weekend's event was 77,065 , a 19.7 percent increase over last season.
• Each of the 18 cars that started today's event was running at the finish, the first time that has happened in a Champ Car race in Portland. It is the first time in Champ Car since the 2004 season finale in Mexico City.
• Andrew Ranger earned the championship point for gaining the most positions in today's race, marking the fourth time in the season's five races that he has taken that point.

FORSYTHE RACE REPORT - ALLMENDINGER WINS     (TOP OF PAGE)

• A.J. Allmendinger Scores First Career Win
• Portland, Oregon , June 18th, 2006 , Californian A.J. Allmendinger led 100 of 105 laps today to take his first career Champ Car Victory in his debut with the Forsythe Team. It was a dominating weekend for Forsythe Championship Racing in Portland as the team had a full sweep of the weekend's events with James Hinchcliffe capturing his first Champ Car Atlantic Victory. Paul Tracy fought an ill-handling race car through the entire Champ Car race but managed to finish in seventh position.
• A.J. Allmendinger
• "This is absolutely amazing. I still don't think I really understand it and believe that it happened. I know with like seven or eight laps to go, I started tearing up. I told myself to stop being a sissy and finish the race because I hadn't won anything yet. I can't thank Forsythe and the whole team enough for everything they've done for me this weekend. Before the weekend even started, just stuff like travel and stuff that happen doesn't seem that big of a deal that sometimes can be trouble, they made so easy. Getting here, the guys were absolutely fantastic. I can't thank them enough for what they made me feel like when I got here and how comfortable I was to get in the car, out of the car, how much fun they made this weekend go."
• "I mean, the pit stops were absolutely fantastic. I just can't thank the whole team enough. Red Bull for sticking behind me. No matter what I was going to do, they said they were going to stick behind me. It's absolutely a fantastic sponsor. Companies like Puma that had a suit ready for me in two days, Corby Concepts had a paint job. Everybody - my parents for sticking behind me, my fiance, just everybody , Tara Ragan (personal manager) for being such a nice, nice lady, doing everything for me over the past week. Everything that they did for me this week, it's amazing."
• Paul Tracy
• "Well first of all I want to congratulate A.J. on his first win; he drove a hell of a race. The race for us wasn't nearly as enjoyable obviously, we were just out there trying to stay consistent and just racing for points basically. We didn't have the speed, the balance just wasn't there. Our fuel mileage wasn't very good either, it is very difficult to save fuel when you are struggling with the setup of the car, so we had to pit earlier than the guys around me and that sent us back a few positions. I'm just going to concentrate on Cleveland now, I won there last year and I'm sure we'll have a good car, I'm really looking forward to the race and hopefully we can repeat our performance from last year."
• Next week the Forsythe Team heads to Cleveland, the next round the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford. The Forsythe drivers had a dominating performance last year at the Cleveland Grand Prix, with Paul Tracy winning the race followed by A.J. Allmendinger in second. You can log on to www.champcar.ws and www.forsythe-racing.com for up-to-date results, standings, and news features.

QUALIFYING

NEWMAN-HASS QUALIFYING REPORT    (TOP OF PAGE)

• JUNQUEIRA EARNED FIRST POLE SINCE 2004 FOR TOMORROW'S G.I. JOE'S CHAMP CAR GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND; BOURDAIS TO START THIRD AND ATTEMPT TO WIN HISTORY-MAKING FIFTH IN A ROW
• Bruno Junqueira, No. 2 Hole in the Wall Camps Ford-Cosworth/Lola/ Bridgestone: "Getting my first pole since the accident and after such a disappointing season so far and what happened in Milwaukee is like getting a win! I'm very happy for myself and for the whole Newman/ Haas team. It's been a difficult year so far and yesterday was very difficult too; we were very much off the pace. I got the help of Sebastien and his team. We changed the setup a lot towards his setup and the car was much better this morning. Then we tried to improve a little bit more. My first run was good, but I knew that the car still had a little bit of understeer so we made some changes. On the second run, my first flying lap was 7.9 and I knew that 7.7 was the pole. I said 'I'm 2/10ths off of it.' I really pushed everything, took all the risks and the lap was great. I ran a 7.6 and I was quite happy with that. Actually very happy because the next one was supposed to be the last one and I couldn't make turn 12 very well and I lost 2/10ths there. I'm quite happy with the result to be on the pole after a long time. After my accident, it's the first time I'm on the pole, so I'm quite happy with that. I'm very happy for the work the whole Newman/Haas team did for me, especially after a very difficult weekend in Milwaukee, and very difficult day yesterday. It's very nice to come here and rebound and come away with the pole."
• Sebastien Bourdais, No. 1 McDonald's Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone: "Well, we were fifteen-thousandths (of a second) short. That's about as close as I can remember any qualifying session being that I ever did. I'm very happy for Bruno. I think he's been through an extremely rough time and it's good to see him back up there. The whole Newman/Haas team did its best to bring the whole thing together. I think we have a great package once again, both the McDonald's car and the Hole in the Wall Camp car are both performing very well. I think it's a perfect setup for us for the race so we'll see how it goes. Historically we've had extremely good cars on long runs. I'm fairly confident with our chances to fight for the win once again. It's a tough one. I think anything can happen tomorrow with the (pit/fuel) windows the way they are and everything. We'll see where we're at, at the end of the race. You could see another da Matta win from P10 or P15 so we'll see what happens."

BRIDGESTONE QUALIFYING REPORT     (TOP OF PAGE)

• Junqueira Collects 1st Bridgestone Pole Position Award since 2004
• Bruno Junqueira pronounced his recovery from serious injuries last year nearly complete after he captured the Bridgestone Pole Position in final qualifying today. In a scintillating closing few minutes that saw the top three qualifiers separated by a mere 15-thousandths of a second, Junqueira took top honors with a lap of 57.631 seconds (122.684 mph).
• It is the Brazilian's first pole position since Long Beach in April 2004, and the ninth of his Champ Car career. Junqueira edged out Forsythe Racing's A.J. Allmendinger (57.639 seconds) and Newman/Haas Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais (57.646) for the Bridgestone Pole Position Award, which includes $5,000 and a black crystal trophy. Bridgestone also donates $2,500 to the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps in each pole winner's honor this season.
• * From Bruno Junqueira, Hole in the Wall Camps Ford/Lola/Bridgestone: "The car was really good in qualifying and I put together a good lap, so I am quite happy with that. The Bridgestone tires were really good, especially the red ones (alternates), the soft ones. I mean, 57.6 (seconds) on this track, in this heat, is quite fast. It was impressive how much grip the tires gave me, even with the track not at its best. I wish I had four sets of the Bridgestone red ones for this race because the red tires are really good. Unbelievable!"
• * Bridgestone Tire Performance Summary: Bridgestone Motorsport brought new tire compounds to Portland for both its standard and alternate specifications. Each car receives six sets of standard Potenzas and two sets of the red-sidewall alternates to use during the weekend, but at least one set of each spec must be run during Sunday's race. The alternate tires feature a slightly higher grip compound ("softer") to yield faster lap times at the potential expense of less durability. Each car also receives four new sets of the Bridgestone rain tire if conditions warrant. The dry-condition tires fall in the highest-grip end of the Bridgestone road-course family. The Potenza rain tires for this weekend are the softer of the two possibilities.
• * From Joe Barbieri, Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport: "Congratulations to Bruno, a driver certainly deserving of some good fortune. PIR is notorious for constantly changing conditions and not necessarily getting faster through the weekend, but everyone improved their times in final qualifying. The Bridgestone tires certainly played a role in that, particularly the alternate Potenzas that had Bruno raving. Of course, the alternates are designed to go faster but maybe not last as long as the standard-spec tires, so we'll have to see how things play out in the race. That's the beauty of the Bridgestone alternate tire concept, to have varying race strategies develop in relation to tire use and to make the outcome more unpredictable and exciting."

RACE PREVIEW      (TOP OF PAGE)

PKV PORTLAND PREVIEW

• PKV RACING SEEKS TO DEFEND TITLE AT G. I. JOE'S PRESENTS THE CHAMP CAR GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
• INDIANAPOLIS, IN, JUNE 15, 2006, PKV Racing will try and pick up where it left off by defending its title at the G. I. Joe's presents the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland, this weekend at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon.
• In 2005, after a solid outing at Milwaukee, where Jimmy Vasser scored the first and only pole in team history, Cristiano da Matta followed up with the team's first and only victory by taking the checkered flag at Portland. Vasser also had a strong event at Portland earning the teams best starting position on the 1.969-mile, 10-turn permanent road course, starting eighth, and then when on to finish sixth giving the team its best combined finish ever. PKV Racing once again comes to Portland with momentum following the best individual performances and combined effort of the 2006 season two weeks ago in Milwaukee.
• In Milwaukee, Oriol Servia, #6 Gulfsteam, PKV Racing Ford-Cosworth/ Lola/Bridgestone and Katherine Legge, #20 Bell Micro, PKV Racing Ford Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, who was making her oval debut, combined to have their best qualifying effort, starting seventh and eighth (first time this year both cars have qualified in the top-10), and best combined finish placing fifth and sixth (first time this year both cars in top-10) respectively, of the 2006 season. Both drivers established season highs and in the case of Legge, career bests, for qualifying and finishing position.
• Legge, who is in her first Champ Car season, will be making her fifth career Champ Car start and first in Portland (although she raced there twice last year in the Atlantic Championship Series starting seventh and finishing ninth in the first race and starting 10th and finishing third in the second). In addition to having her best performance of the season and of her short Champ Car career in Milwaukee, the 25-year- old native of Great Britain, led a race for the first time in her career thus becoming the first female in Champ Car history to lead a race.
• Legge has qualified eighth, 15th and 17th twice in her first four Champ Car events. However, it has been in the races where she has shown the talent, determination and speed that led to her being promoted to Champ Cars after just one year of Atlantic competition. In addition to her sixth place showing at Milwaukee, Legge finished eighth in her Champ Car debut at Long Beach, was headed for another top-10 finish, when she was hit by another competitor and eventually placed 14th in Houston, and was 14th again in Monterrey after a questionable penalty was accessed for blocking while she was running 13th. Legge is currently 11th in the championship standings with 49 points. The resident of Indianapolis, Indiana is second in the Champ Car rookie points race just one point behind Power.
• "I am looking forward to driving at Portland in a Champ Car," Legge said. "The Bell Micro, PKV Racing team had a good test there back in April and we have improved the car since then. The team has done a fantastic job this season and I am excited about getting back a permanent road circuit again, which is the type of circuit I ran growing up," she noted. "I really want to have a good performance at Portland because it is Father's Day and my dad will be at the race. In addition, my mum with be attending her first Champ Car event, so I have a lot of extra incentive."
• Legge, who seems to set a new Champ Car record every time she takes to the track, is a rising star in the Champ Car World Series. In addition to becoming the first female to lead a race, Legge became the first female to start a Champ Car/CART race since Lyn St. James at Michigan in 1995, when she took the green flag in Long Beach on April 9. Her sixth place showing in Milwaukee gives her the two best finishes (eighth in Long Beach) by a female in Series history surpassing a ninth place finish by Janet Guthrie at the 1978 Indianapolis 500 (Note: The Champ Car World Series record book includes USAC Champ Car events back to 1909). Legge had a standout rookie season in the Atlantic Championship Series in 2005. She won three races last year in route to a third place finish in the standings. Her win in her debut Atlantic event at Long Beach made her the first woman to win a major open-wheel race in North America.
• Servia will be making his fifth start with PKV Racing, sixth in Portland and 103rd of his Champ Car career this weekend.
• In the four races this year, Servia has qualified in the top-10 four times starting seventh at Milwaukee and Monterrey, Mexico and eighth at Long Beach and Houston. After being the victim of on-track incidents in the first two races of the season, the 31-year-old Spaniard, has had back-to-back top-10 performances finishing eighth in Monterrey to go with the fifth in Milwaukee. Servia currently sits 12th in the championship standings with 48 points.
• In five previous races at PIR, Servia has qualified in the top-10 twice with a best starting position of sixth in 2003. He has finished in the top-10 three times with a best showing of fifth also in 2003 (eighth in 2000 and ninth in 2001).
• "After having some back luck in the first two races of the season the Gulfstream, PKV Racing team has had two good performances in the last two races," Servia said. "We are not where we want to be, but I think we have some momentum. The team has worked very hard this year to make the cars better and last year PKV Racing had good cars at Portland, so I am confident heading into this race," he explained. "I like the PIR circuit. It is challenging and has a nice combination of corners. I had some success my first three races here, but the last two years have been more difficult. I am looking forward to having a good race in Portland this year and moving up in the championship hunt."
• Now in his seventh Champ Car season, Servia has now earned 53 top- ten finishes including 26 top-five showings, 12 podium performances and one victory (Montreal 2005). The resident of Miami, Florida who has finished in the top-10 in the standings the last three years, is coming off his best Champ Car season after placing second last year.
• PKV Racing will be making its sixth and seventh starts in four racings at Portland International Raceway. The team has qualified in the top-10 three times with a best starting position of eighth by Jimmy Vasser last year. They have finished in the top-10 four times including the win by da Matta.
• PKV Racing co-owner/driver Jimmy Vasser, who earlier this year announced he would compete at Long Beach and selected other races during the 2006 season, remains on the sidelines in his other capacity as co-owner of PKV Racing. The 40-year-old native of California, who is technically in his 15th Champ Car season, made his 232nd career and 211 consecutive Champ Car start in Long Beach. His consecutive start streak came to a halt when he did not run in Houston.

TEAM AUSTRALIA PORTLAND PREVIEW    (TOP OF PAGE)

• TEAM AUSTRALIA READY TO BOUNCE BACK
• Team Australia will be looking to bounce back from a couple of disappointing results in this weekend's fifth round of the Champ Car World Series at Portland International Raceway in Oregon.
• Alex Taglinai is coming off a couple of accidents, while Power will be determined to again skip away in the rookie of the year race after mechanical problems forced his retirement at Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago in his Aussie Vineyards Lola.
• Thanks to the team effort, both cars will be ready to whip around the 1.964 mile (3.14km) Portland International Raceway.
• After putting in over a 60-hour week, Team Oz was able to turn Tagliani's car around after a big practice accident in Milwaukee.
• From the moment they got back home to Indianapolis it was time to burn the midnight oil and get everything prepared for Portland.
• Helping in the quick process was the switch to Sherwin-Williams Planet Color Paint early on in the season. With all the damage done to the car and repainting that had to be accomplished, the paint dried so quickly, they were able to have the car ready in time.
• Both drivers have been working diligently in preparation for the big weekend.
• Tagliani went straight home to Las Vegas and immediately started training.
• It was also a positive week for Tagliani as he had his six stitches removed from his right hand.
• Power has also been training hard. Maintaining healthy eating and a strict regimen of fitness workouts, the Aussie rookie is ready for Portland.
• With a good mix of running, swimming, rowing and weight training, Power feels mentally and physically ready to get back in the car and shoot for a podium finish.
• WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY, ..
• WILL POWER - #5 TEAM AUSTRALIA/AUSSIE VINEYARDS LOLA
• "I'm looking forward to Portland and getting back on a road course," said Power.
• "Team Australia really keeps improving and the Aussie Vineyards car gets better and better each time we get it out on the track."
• "Going into the weekend, I'm feeling really confident and have been working really hard training to prepare for the race."
• "When we tested in Portland back in April we finished with a good setup and have really improved on that. Portland is a difficult circuit to find a good setup on because it's quite abrasive and hard on tires, so you don't get much running time on good rubber."
• "When you put new tires on you find that you have an imbalance, but the team and my race engineer Brandon (Fry) have been working really hard to get me a good car, so I think now we are really prepared for Portland."
• "I've had plenty of time to rest and train since Milwaukee, so I'm ready for the weekend."
• ALEX TAGLIANI - #15 TEAM AUSTRALIA/AUSSIE VINEYARDS LOLA
• "I'm really excited for Portland and to be able to race this weekend," said Tagliani.
• "I like the Portland track a lot. It's always very competitive and challenging, and I really enjoy that.
• "The track is not very long but it has a really good mix of high and low corner speeds, which allows you to get into a good rhythm."
• "Unfortunately last year, we blew an engine six laps into the race, but I'm excited because we have had a really good car this year so I feel more confident that we will finish with a positive result."
• "Team Australia has worked really hard in the last two weeks to get me a good car that would be ready for Portland. I have great engineers, Mike (Pawlowski), Brandon (Fry) and Brendon (Cleave) who have made great improvements to the Aussie Vineyards car."
• "Performance wise we have been doing very well, we have just had a few disappointments. I'm excited for the race and ready to give the fans a good show."
• DERRICK WALKER, CO-OWNER TEAM AUSTRALIA
• "There is no doubt that we have had a tough couple of weeks, but everyone has dug deep and we have got the job done," said Walker.
• "I think we have come a long way since we raced as Team Australia in Portland last year.
• "Our test days have been positive, so now it is a matter of going out and doing the job."
• CRAIG GORE, CO-OWNER TEAM AUSTRALIA
• "It has been a tough couple of events for Derrick and the boys, but I am sure we can pull it all back together this weekend," said Gore.
• "Both drivers are still in the top 10 of the championship and Will is still on track for rookie honors.
• "I am sure Simon (Pagenaud) and James (Davison) will also continue to do a solid job in the Atlantics."

ROCKETSPORT PORTLAND PREVIEW     (TOP OF PAGE)

• THE MORE THE MERRIER; ROCKETSPORTS RACING BACK TO TWO CARS IN PORTLAND
• EAST LANSING, Michigan (June 14, 2006) - Tonis Kasemets will join Rocketsports Racing and its driver Nicky Pastorelli in Portland to make his Champ Car debut, as the team expands to a two-car effort in at least six races this season in the Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series.
• The first year that Rocketsports Racing participated in the Champ Car World Series was in 2003. That year, the team ventured out onto the 1.969-mile permanent road course at Portland International Speedway with veteran driver Alex Tagliani for the first time, which resulted in a podium finish. The team knows what it takes to be running up front, and despite Rocketsports' having two rookies behind the wheel, PIR is a track that both Kasemets and Pastorelli are familiar with.
• Kasemets earned three wins and three poles to finish as the runner-up in the 2005 Atlantic Championship. Kasemets was unstoppable in Portland last year as two of those wins and one of those poles happened at the PIR track for the Estonian-American driver during a double-header Atlantic race weekend. He led all 35 laps in the second race of the weekend and posted the fastest time while taking the win from the pole. The 32-year-old driver was recognized for all his hard work and dedication as not only a driver, but a team member, with the Ohlins Shock Technician of the Year award, which only leads to the expectations that he will bring those skills with him as he joins Rocketsports this weekend and beyond.
• "I am really looking forward to my first Champ Car race and working with Rocketsports Racing this weekend," said Kasemets as he prepares for the Portland event and becomes the first driver from Estonia t o compete in Champ Car. "I am so grateful for this opportunity, and I would like to thank Rocketsports and my sponsor Flexovit Abrasives for their support and believing in me. My goal this weekend is to finish the race, if we can do that in the #18 Flexovit Abrasives/Rocketsports car, then it will be a great accomplishment. This takes time, baby steps is the proper way to go about it with reasonable expectations. I know that we can work well together and help each other out, and it will show. Track knowledge helps extremely for a driver. I have raced and won on this track in an Atlantic car, despite the differences between the two cars, it gives me something to work with. The rookie test for me with Rocketsports on Thursday will give us an idea of how our weekend is going to go. So we will go out there and give it our best, and I will try to have some fun while trying to get the job accomplished!"
• Pastorelli had his first run with the team during a two-day test in Portland back in April. A former F1 test driver for Jordan in 2005, the Italio-Dutch driver knows the demands of a road course. Unlike any other upcoming venue he will compete at this season, Pastorelli is familiar with this 10-turn road course terrain as he logged 185 laps during the test.
• "I am looking forward to going to Portland," said Pastorelli on making his fourth Champ Car start. "I tested with the team for the first time there, so I have experience on this track. Unlike all of the other venues that I will be racing on this season, I have an advantage here because of my testing time with the team in April. Instead of having to go out and learn the track, I can just get started immediately on working on finding a good set-up for the #8 Bavaria City Racing/Rocketsports car. It is a really nice track to drive. I really don't know what to expect, but I am sure it will be fun. The Rocketsports team has been doing a great job for me, I hope we can get another top-ten finish this weekend and work on improving our qualifying position and overall result this weekend."

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