Subaru Road Racing Team Takes Points Lead Into ‘Home’ Race
- Drivers, team at sharp end of points charts -

Phoenixville, PA – April 27, 2009

When the green flag flies Saturday afternoon to begin the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Subaru Road Racing Team and its drivers will start the race sharing the points lead in the coveted Team and Driver Championships.

The two factory drivers of SRRT’s #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B sedan are Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Kristian Skavnes, Sparta, N.J., who raced earlier this season to a second place finish at Daytona and a fifth at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Aquilante qualified the car on the pole in both races.  

Joe Aquilante owns the Phoenixville, Pa.-based SRRT Phoenix outfit which prepares the team’s Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car and serves as factory race partner for Subaru of America, Inc.

This is SRRT’s third season racing the Subaru. The team won two KONI Challenge races in 2007 and one in 2008. The car races in the Street Tuner class, the larger of the two classes in the series, with nine different manufacturers represented.

“Our Subaru team is led by Klevis Prifti as the crew chief plus team members Matt Smith and Jason Lang,” Joe Aquilante noted. “I like watching the way Andrew and Klevis work together – a 21-year old driver and 22-year old crew chief. Considering their combined ages, they can be proud of the season-to-date, and we plan for that to continue at a race track which is only 75 miles from our home base, and under 40 miles from Subaru of America’s U.S. headquarters in southern New Jersey.

“The Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive system, turbocharged 2.5 liter boxer engine configuration, and performance-oriented Legacy platform are all working in the team’s favor,” said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc.

“The team performed well here last year,” Han added. “After two-and-a-half hours of hard racing, we were a mere 1.7 seconds away from the win, but in a series this competitive, that was ‘only’ good enough for third place.  Since Subaru is a corporate sponsor and also the official automobile plus pace car for New Jersey Motorsports Park, strong performances are always just that much more special at this round on the Grand-Am calendar.”

“The Subaru’s advantages at this track will really come into play through the slower corners and the little uphill sections where we should make good use of the Legacy’s all-wheel drive and turbocharger,” Andrew Aquilante opinioned.

Qualifying will be Friday at 4:15pm, with the race starting Saturday at 3:10pm. New Jersey Motorsports Park is near Millville, N.J.

Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. (SIA), VAC Motorsports, Automotive Racing Products, Hawk Brakes, Rockland Standard Gear, Quarter Master, Ecutek, Racing Radios, Lista, Rotary Lifts, Cusco, Carbonetic, Mac Tools, Hella, Perrin, and Vedalo HD.

About SRRT Phoenix Racing
SRRT Phoenix LLC represents Subaru of America’s road racing efforts in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge and is owned and managed by Joe Aquilante of Phoenix Performance, Inc. The team’s 32,000 sq. ft. facility is in Phoenixville, Pa., 40 miles west of Philadelphia, PA. Team drivers Kristian Skavnes and Andrew Aquilante race a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B. in the Street Tuner class. For more information about the team and the cars, call Joe Aquilante at (610) 482-0141, or go to www.phoenixperformance.net. Fans can visit the team’s website at www.srrtphoenix.com