Subaru Road Racing Team Drivers
Edge Toward Championship
- Aquilante, Skavnes pick up 6
points -
Phoenixville, PA – July 18, 2009
Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante
and Kristian Skavnes came into Saturday’s Grand-Am KONI
Sports Car Challenge 24 points out of the lead for the
series Driver Championship.
Following the two-hour, 30-minute race at Barber
Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., the duo sit six
points closer to that goal, thanks to a third place
finish, only 10 seconds away from the top rung of the
winners circle. The points leader finished seventh
today.
The team’s #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B., prepared by
Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville, Pa., headed the
21-car pack twice – for four total laps - during
Aquilante’s 45-lap stint. Subaru is one of nine car
manufacturers represented in the KONI series’ Street
Tuner class.
The race was taped by SPEED TV and scheduled to air July
25 at Noon ET.
Aquilante, on the opening lap, moved into second place
from his third place qualifying position, and took the
race lead for lap 37, and laps 39-44, consistently
staying hot on the heels of the eventual race-winning
car. He pitted on lap 45 of 83 in the race, turning the
controls over to teammate Skavnes, who re-entered the
race in fourth spot after the pit stop but jumped to
second place two laps later.
Team owner Joe Aquilante noted the Subaru Legacy did
what was asked of it. “Both AJ and Kris were very good
about not over-extending the car until it was time, but
we made a tactical error by not changing the rear tires
during our pit stop. We only changed the fronts because
it was quick, but with full-time all-wheel drive on the
Subaru, the rear tires were in a condition late in the
race that they couldn’t help as much as we needed.”
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 Legacy.
James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of
America, noted that although Subaru lost a little ground
in its drive for a Manufacturer Championship, “Subaru is
the only auto brand out of the nine manufacturers
represented in the series with just the one car. We’re
well within reach of earning our first Grand-Am title,
and considering the average entry counts and depth of
competition, the team is representing Subaru well and
putting in consistently strong performances with our
Legacy platform. That said, the final three races will
be crucial.”
The ninth of 11 races on the season will be Aug. 14-15
in Trois-Rivičres, Quebec, an hour east of Montreal.
Held on a 1.52-mile, 10-turn circuit through the streets
of the city, the 90-minute event is the only KONI
Challenge race of the season not held on a purpose-built
race track.
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