Subaru Road Racing Team Leads at Mid-Ohio

- Aquilante, Spaude 15th in Season’s Largest Grand Sports Class Field -

Phoenixville, Pa. – Sept 17, 2011

The Subaru Road Racing Team wrapped up its 2011 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season with a 15th place finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Lexington, Ohio, racing in a 39-car Grand Sports class field.

The SRRT effort included eight race laps in the lead, and determined runs up through the field by both of the car’s drivers, and strategic pit stops supported with heads-up pit action by the crew.

Bret Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., qualified the #35 SRRT Impreza WRX STI in 15th place and moved up to 6th by the end of his 50-min stint in the driver’s seat.  Teammate Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., took over at that point, re-entering the race in 26th place. He moved through the field quickly, emerging in the race lead on lap 39 and remained there for eight laps.

Aquilante made a second refueling stop with 40 minutes to go in the 2.5-hour race and worked his way back to 13th place, before late race cautions bunched the field.

“All-in-all, this was an encouraging weekend for us,” said SRRT owner Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance Inc., in Phoenixville, Pa., where the SRRT cars are race-prepared.

“Our STI was strong in the early practice sessions, and raced well. It was good especially on the handling parts of the track. Bret and Andrew worked hard on chassis set-up and shock absorber changes to maximize handling.  We know we have a deficit on long straightaways against cars with larger displacement engines, so we focused on our strength - handling.

“Andrew had to be precise with his upshifts late in the race, based on a developing transmission issue, but he worked out a solution without having to pit. He held off a pack of cars behind him to bring our car home in one piece.”

The race was taped by SPEED TV for airing at noon ET on Sept. 25.

 

Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Hawk Brakes, Ron Davis Racing Radiators, Automotive Racing Products, VAC Motorsports, Rockland Standard Gear, Ecutek, Lista, Rotary Lifts, Cusco, Carbonetic, Hella, and Perrin.

 About SRRT Phoenix LLC

SRRT Phoenix LLC represents Subaru of America Inc.’s  road racing effort in the 10-round GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series and is owned and managed by Joe Aquilante of Phoenix Performance, LLC. The team’s 32,000 sq. ft. facility is in Phoenixville, Pa., 40 miles west of Philadelphia, PA. Team drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude race a Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the Grand Sport class.

For more information about the team and the cars, call Joe Aquilante at (610) 482-0141.  Fans can visit the team’s website at www.srrtphoenix.com and the Phoenix Performance website at www.phoenixperformance.net

Return to Phoenix in the News

Return to Phoenix in the News (Subarus)