RuSPORT
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
RuSPORT is an auto racing team that competes in the Champ Car World Series. It was founded in 2002 by business mogul Carl Russo and former sports car driver Jeremy Dale.
[edit] 2003-2006
Russo drove for the team then known as Performance Development and Racing, or PDR for short, 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 are expected to be the top challengers to Newman/Haas Racing. Mid-way through the season, the team replaced Allmendinger with 2002 CART champion Cristiano da Matta who moved over to the team from Dale Coyne Racing.
Cristiano Da Matta was injured in a collision with a deer during testing at Road America on August 3, 2006.
On September 17, 2006, the team announced that it would hold a "shootout" at Sebring Raceway 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, who would make his first appearance for the team at his home race, the Lexmark Indy 300.
[edit] 2007
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 co-owner Dan Pettit had purchased the team from Russo. The team currently has no drivers signed for the 2007 season but is reportedly close to resigning Justin Wilson.[1]
[edit] Past Drivers
- A.J. Allmendinger (2004-2006)
- Ryan Briscoe (2006-)
- Cristiano da Matta (2006-)
- Michel Jourdain, Jr. (2004)
- Justin Wilson (2005-)
| 2006 Champ Car World Series | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newman/Haas | Forsythe | CTE-HVM | Australia | PKV | Rocketsports | RuSPORT | Coyne | Conquest | |
| 1 Bourdais 2 Junqueira |
3 Tracy 7 Rice |
4 Philippe 14 Clarke |
5 Power 15 Tagliani |
6 Servia 20 Legge |
8 Dominguez 18 Pizzonia |
9 Wilson 10 Briscoe |
11 Heylen 19 Wirth |
27 Ranger 34 Zwolsman |
|
| Long Beach - Houston - Monterrey - Milwaukee - Portland - Cleveland - Toronto - Edmonton - San Jose - Denver - Montreal - Road America - Surfers Paradise - Mexico City | |||||||||
