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ROCKETSPORTS RACING TRANS-AM RACE REPORT: MOSPORT

Drissi Finishes as Runner-up and Ramoutarsingh Rounds Out the Top Ten

They may not have claimed the victory at Mosport International Raceway this weekend, but Rocketsports Racing drivers Tomy Drissi and Daniel Ramoutarsingh leave as winners.

Despite being held up by traffic, Drissi qualified the #5 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Jaguar XKR with a time of 1:18.923 (112.165 mph), which put him third on the grid. Unlike the last Trans-Am race which saw several yellows, this weekend’s event stayed green for all 37 laps providing some really exciting racing. Drissi battled second-running Jorge Diaz for most of the race. On lap 30, the Hollywood-native passed Diaz to claim the second spot and never looked back.

Drissi commented, “Everyone drove a really good race, it was a great event. I was able to stay with Tony Ave (who started second) at the beginning of the race before he took the lead from Diaz. Then it was my turn to battle with Diaz. The #5 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Jaguar XKR was faster than him on some areas of the track, but he was faster than me on others. This is not exactly the easiest track to pass on, so I had to stay patient and just paced him waiting for the right time to make a move. With eight laps to go I could tell that he didn’t have any tire left, so I was able to take advantage of that. By the time I got past Diaz, leader Klaus Graf had built up such a big gap that I just couldn’t catch him in time, and we had to settle for second.

We are real happy though. The Rocketsports Racing team did a really good job; they gave me a great car. It was great to be back racing at Mosport – the Canadian fans were great and happy to see us back. It was just so fast there, it continues to be an amazing place on and off track. I am looking forward to going to Mid-Ohio and I am not going to leave anything on the table there. We have been very close to wins, but now we need one.”

Despite being another new track for Ramoutarsingh, this weekend was a little different for him. “I absolutely love this track, and with the help of the Rocketsports Racing team and my teammate Drissi, I found that I was able to adapt quickly and come up to a reasonable speed with the time we had before the race,” said the rookie.

And he didn’t have much time before the big event on Sunday. The only track time he had before qualifying and the race today was during the testing day on Friday. Two practice sessions were scheduled for Saturday, but rain postponed Ramoutarsingh and the #8 Trinrico Steel & Wire Products Jaguar XKR from getting out on the track. And despite a chaotic qualifying session, the Trinidadian still managed to earn his best qualifying start in Trans-Am after recording a time of 1:23.561 (105.939 mph) placing him eighth on the grid.

“The race was a beautiful race,” Ramoutarsingh stated. “A complete green-flag race made it quite the challenge; it was flat out racing with no breaks. Jerry Kinn and I had a race of our own; he was in my mirrors the entire time. I knew that towards the end he was going to get aggressive to get around me and I was ready for him to make the move. However, I still couldn’t predict what was about to happen. At the end of the back straight with two laps to go, he dove down on the inside of me and I got hit. The #8 Trinrico Steel & Wire Products Jaguar XKR went off track, but I was able to keep the car from making contact with the barriers. It took me a while to get the car restarted again and I lost several positions that we worked very hard for. But I am glad that I was able to get back on track and get that checkered flag.

With a tenth-place finish, Ramoutarsingh added, “I am proud that I drove such a consistent race. At the end, I was only two seconds off of my teammate in terms of lap times, and he was running up there with the leaders. I just wanted to make up some points after having a DNF last race, we did that and I look forward to our next event and more positive results like this weekend.”

While Drissi’s first victory in 2009 has been put on hold, he has taken the lead in the championship point’s battle. Obtaining 30 points this weekend, he and Tony Ave are tied with a total of 76 points. Ramoutarsingh moves into the top five of the standings after this weekend’s result, which saw the rookie earn 16 points giving him a total of 47 after three rounds.

The Muscle Milk SCCA Trans-Am Series next heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Round Four, May 30-31. For more information, please visit www.rocketsportsracing.com or www.sccatrans-am.com.

Power Ford of Torrance and Western Museum of Flight Encourage Local Community to Take it
“Back to the Tracks”

Annual car show raises community awareness about the dangers of street racing and money for children’s museum

Torrance, CA, April 4 - Power Ford of Torrance teamed up with the Western Museum of Flight to host its annual “Back to the Tracks” car and airplane show today. This is the second year the local dealer has taken to the streets in an effort to educate the community about the dangers of street racing.

pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9187757@N04/sets/72157616386637028/

The annual car show featured hundreds of classic cars and airplanes, of various makes and models, and provided a platform for highlighting the dangers and alternatives of street racing to the community. “This show has truly become one of our favorite events,” “Not only do we get to display some great classic cars, and in this year’s case, aircraft, but we also have an invaluable opportunity to educate the community about safe alternatives to street racing.”

Car enthusiasts were encouraged to take their cars to a controlled racetrack environment where they can test the limits safely, lawfully and off the streets. “Our goal is to try and get as many street racers off our local streets and onto racetracks as possible, as car lovers we get that there is a certain thrill to racing, we just don’t want it done in such a way that it puts our community in danger,”

The event included music from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s; presentation of the “People’s Choice” car show awards; food and refreshments provided by the Space Shuttle Café; games for kids, including make and take aircrafts; and a car clinic provided by Power Ford Technicians.

In partnering with the Western Museum of Flight in Torrance, Power Ford pledged the event proceeds to helping the non-profit continue their vital work with the local community’s children. The museum, located behind Power Ford of Torrance, showcased historic aircraft and memorabilia for the day.

“The Western Museum of Flight has dedicated countless hours to preserving and displaying aircraft history and artifacts of Southern California's aviation heritage, we’re thrilled to have had the opportunity to help them continue their admirable work,”

Supporters of the show included the Rolling Hills Covenant Church, Shelby Automobiles, Historic Sports Car Racing West (HSR West) and the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA), which is committed to participating in community programs that encourage people to drag race their street cars at local tracks.