RFM Front Page News

Photos courtesy Jamie Longmuir
MONTREAL, Canada (August 26, 2005) – One of the top teams in the Champ Car World Series this year, the RuSPORT team has a busy weekend ahead of them, and for Justin Wilson, driver of the No. 9 CDW car, it has begun well. “We were fifth in morning practice,” he reported, “and we had a reasonable balance out of the box; we have a few things to work on but we believe we’ll be racing right at the front this weekend.” [Update: Justin qualified 3rd overall on Saturday in Final Qualifying.]

Wilson drove the Montreal track with the Minardi team in Formula One, and last year he drove here in Champ Cars with the Mi-Jack Conquest team. He was running fifth with a podium finish in sight, but was stymied by a gearbox failure fourteen laps from the end. “That car was different,” he agreed, “but it was not a bad car. Perhaps the big difference this year is our consistency at RuSPORT; we’ve done a lot of development work this year and the difference shows, as we’re able to consistently run at the front this year.” Going into this weekend, Justin Wilson stands 4^th overall in points with 179 points and he’s looking forward a great weekend.

One of his most successful weekends this year (up to a point) was at the brand new track in Edmonton, where he and teammate A.J. Allmendinger (in the No. 10 Western Union car) were faster than all the other cars throughout the weekend. “I don’t know what it was about that track,” said Wilson, “but it seemed to suit the cars very well. We learned a lot from the weekend about setting up the car, and it was a shame that it ended up the way it did.” With a wry smile he added, “It seemed too good to be true, and in the end it seemed that it was!” But that, he added, was a part of racing too. And on a weekend when both teammates found a difficult ending, Wilson said that it was one of the great strengths of the team that they are able to “analyze where we went wrong and learn from our mistakes and move on.”

“The team knows,” he said, “that these are split second decisions to be made; you are taking a risk every second and if it works you’re a hero and if not…” Although teammate Allmendinger tends to pile remorse on himself for unforced errors, Wilson emphasized that these kind of outcomes happen to even very experienced drivers. “Cristiano [da Matta] made one in Denver,” he pointed out, “and he came today and apologized to me; he had reviewed the film and realized that he’d made a mistake. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and when he does, he owns up to them. There are some drivers, who are quick to blame everyone else when things go wrong, but we know when it’s our fault and we deal with it.” He enjoys a good relationship with Allmendinger on and off the track, and said that when they go out together they talk about anything else but racing. “If he wants some advice from me,” he said, “he knows he can ask me. But in the main we leave that to the members of the team whose job it is to deal with those things.”

Justin Wilson won his first race in 2005 at Toronto early in July, and he freely admitted it took him about a week to come down from the high that gave him. “You are so busy after the race,” he said, “that you don’t have time to just sit and savor it, so it took me about a week to finally realize what I had done. But it was not only a great win at a good track, it was a relief to get that first win and have it off my shoulders.” Aside from his excellent driving and the support of a good team who prove him a well-prepared car, Wilson mentioned that he had an extra cheering section at that race that is in fact present in Montreal too: his shareholders. “We have an annual meeting,” he said, “and I’m happy to meet with them; some were at the Toronto race and I am hoping they’ll bring me the same luck here that they brought me there.” Unlike the shareholders of other corporations, those of Justin Wilson Inc. don’t try to tell him how to do his job. “They are here to support me,” he said, “and they know that I’m doing my best for them as well as for myself and the team – that when I win, we all win. It’s a big lift for me having them here to support me and I know they enjoy the racing by the other drivers too.”

All in all, for this busy and successful team, the weekend is shaping up to add to their already impressive legend, and you can count on Justin Wilson to give the crowd a show, and with good luck and good driving, Montreal will prove to be as good to him as were Toronto and Edmonton. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.

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