Phoenixville, PA – June 2, 2009
The Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge series hits the middle of its 11-race season
Friday at Watkins Glen International, the world-famous 3.4-mile road course in upstate
New York, marking a weekend that stands as an icon of all Grand-Am seasons.
The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT), which is based just four Interstate highway hours
away in Phoenixville, Pa., approaches this 2 ½-hour race on very familiar turf as
an opportunity to revitalize their hopes for a championship in the Street Tuner class
with the #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car.
After five races of 11 races, co-drivers Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa.,
and Kristian Skavnes, Sparta, N.J., are ranked fourth in the Driver Championship
points.
Subaru also sits fourth out of nine manufacturers that have contested the largest
class in all of Grand-Am racing. Thirty ST cars are entered for Saturday’s race,
which will include 22 Grand Sports (GS) class cars.
“Our team was understandably disappointed with finishing only 13th at Lime Rock two
weeks ago, as it had nothing to do with effort or preparation; minor contact broke
a valve stem on a wheel and led to a flat tire,” said James Han, motorsports marketing
manager for Subaru of America, Inc.
“This race is on a very storied race track and comes at a pivotal time in the points
championship. I’m glad that SRRT is so familiar with the track from previous experience.”
Joe Aquilante owns the Phoenixville, Pa.-based SRRT Phoenix company which prepares
the team’s Subaru Legacy 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 KONI Challenge
races in 2007 at Lime Rock and both 2007-08 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Skavnes secured a three-hour professional race win at Watkins Glen in 1996, and Andrew
Aquilante has many WGI trophies from his SCCA Club Racing seasons. SRRT raced two
Subarus in the 2007 KONI Challenge race at Watkins Glen and placed both in the top
10.
“If there’s any point in this season where we can show the results we’re capable
of, Watkins Glen and at the following round at Mid-Ohio are it,” said Joe Aquilante.
“Racing’s tough out there, trying to score Manufacturer Championship points for Subaru
when we have the only Subaru on the track, but that adds emotional value to everything
we earn.”
Practice is Thursday, with qualifying Friday at 12:30pm. The race gets the green
flag Friday at 4pm. The SPEED TV broadcast of the race will air June 14 at 2pm ET.
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
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