Subaru Road Racing Team Ready for Homestead Race

- Team Sees Subaru-friendly Advantages in Track Design-

Phoenixville, PA. – Feb. 20, 2011

 After a solid finish coming away from the first round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series at Daytona International Speedway, the Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) is eager to build upon that result at Homestead-Miami Speedway which will host the next round on March 4-5.

At Homestead, SRRT co-drivers Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Bret Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., face a 2.3-mile combination banked oval speedway and twisting infield road course for the 2.5-hour race. Daytona’s road racing configuration length is 3.56 miles; the extra running room makes a Grand Sports class race lap at Daytona about 13 miles per hour faster than a Homestead lap.

“That’s a good equalizer for the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI race car,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., where the team’s cars are built and tuned.

“Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system will help our car accelerate out of the corners, and since the banking is flatter, our handling advantage should come into play more,” he said.

“Even with our testing, we’re still tweaking the chassis and suspension settings after every practice session,” added Andrew Aquilante, who, along with team Crew Chief Kurt Omensetter, oversees the pre race prep of the 2011 WRX STI. “We’re in the mode where small changes can mean a lot in lap times and top speed, so we are focusing on details.”

Spaude, from Northern Florida, has logged hundreds of high-speed laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway and feels confident for another strong team result. “Homestead is similar to Daytona in many ways, but a key difference is the reduced distance that makes up each lap. This configuration is a lot of fun to rocket around in a car as nimble as the Subaru.”

James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of America, Inc. added, “To have finished seven seconds from the race win at Daytona after two-and-a-half grueling hours is encouraging. Barring any surprises at Homestead-Miami, I feel the track’s configuration and the mechanical attributes of the Subaru WRX STI, such as our Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive System and boxer engine, we are in a great position to finish well inside the top ten. The Daytona ‘butterflies’ are past us now.”

Practice will be Friday, March 4 at 11:50am with qualifying at 4:35pm, and the 2.5-hour race Saturday, March 5 at 4:15pm.

The race will be televised by SPEED TV to air March 19 at 2 p.m. ET.

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

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