Glock matches his best finish of the season
source: Rocketsports Racing After a disastrous morning warm-up session, Roshfrans Rookie-of-the-Year points leader Timo Glock raced the DHL Global Mail/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone to match his best Champ Car career finish of sixth, while Ryan Hunter-Reay did his best to have a good run despite having problems from the start. After light contact with the wall during morning warm-up, the #8 DHL Global Mail crew had their hands full to repair the damage before the green flag dropped. The Rocketsports team had to repair a broken bell housing and change the gear box. With time to spare, the yellow and red Lola rolled out to the grid and took it place. Taking the green flag from the eighth starting spot, the German native worked his way to fifth on lap 20. As the whole 18-car field experienced braking problems, the rookie held on to finish the race in one piece, bringing the car home sixth. Glock, who was the fastest rookie all weekend on the street of San Jose, was honored for finishing the race as the top rookie and received a trophy for his result. Extending his Rookie-of-the-Year lead, the German now sits eleven points ahead of Ronnie Bremer. He remains ninth in the overall Champ Car championship standings with a total of 109 points and sits second to 2004 Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais in laps completed this season. Things on the other side of the Rocketsports team were not looking promising either, as after contact was also made by Hunter-Reay during the warm-up session, damaging the other Lola in the two-car Rocketsports Champ Car effort. Heavy contact with the wall bent the right front suspension on the #31 Cytomax Sport Drink/Rocketsports Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone, as the car was towed into the garage area needing serious work. The #31 crew went full speed ahead, repairing the front suspension and performing an engine change. The car was ready to go for the start of the race this afternoon, but immediately experienced problems before taking the green flag. With the engine just cutting out on him during his third parade lap, the American had to get bump started by the Champ Car Safety team before starting the race. By lap 18, Hunter-Reay was sitting twelfth when his suspension broke due to a rough course when he was driving down the straightaway. His crew went to work in the pits, repairing the damage and sent the third-year Champ Car driver back out. 18 laps later, the #31 Lola pulled in to the runoff area for the third time of the afternoon with a mechanical failure that would end his day for good. Hunter-Reay finished 14th in today's Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose. Rocketsports Racing will head back to East Lansing and prepare for Round 9 of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford in Denver, Colorado on August 14th.
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