Aquilante, Spaude 6th in Road America GRAND-AM race
 
While an extraordinary number of their competitors made high-risk moves and paid a price for impatience, Subaru Road Racing Team co-drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude raced their Subaru Impreza WRX STi with the checkered flag as their goal, and reaped their reward.
 
Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., finished the team’s season’s best sixth place in the two-hour, 30-minute GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series on the venerable 4.048 mile Road America circuit near Elkhart Lake, Wis.
 
The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) prepares and races a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 4-door model in the series for Subaru of America, Inc.

Andrew Aquilante returned to the cockpit after a two-race absence. He relieved Spaude behind the wheel one-hour and six minutes into the race, in sixth place, temporarily picked up one position for laps 27- 35, settled into a safe run to the checkered flags while those around crashed with abandon.
 
“We worked all the full-course caution situations correctly, timed our one pit stop correctly, and got consistent race laps from Brett and AJ,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance Inc., in Phoenixville, Pa., where the SRRT cars are race-prepared.
 
“This was a very good result for the STI on a long horsepower track.  Both Bret and Andrew kept the car in the Top ten the entire race and the car ran flawlessly.  We are starting to see the results of the development effort and are looking forward to the last three races of the year!”
 
Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., “I’m very pleased with our team’s result at Road America.”  “After a top 5 qualifying spot, both our WRX STI race car and the team performed well to secure such an encouraging result on a track which emphasizes power and torque.  SRRT is looking forward to taking this momentum forward into the Laguna Seca round of the series.”

As the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series starts its run to the season’s end with race seven of 10 Friday on the sprawling Road America circuit near Elkhart Lake, Wis., the Subaru Road Racing Team is banking on the improvements it has recently shown, and is looking forward to its first visit to the track.
The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) prepares and races a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 4-door model in the series for Subaru of America, Inc.
 
At Road America, Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., returns to the cockpit after a two-race absence, joined by regular SRRT driver Bret Spaude, Bushnell, Fla.

“We have worked with Grand Am and as a team to extract all the performance we can from what is a top-shelf performance car to begin with,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance Inc., in Phoenixville, Pa., where the SRRT cars are race-prepared.
 
“Our results are showing those performance gains, too. We led seven laps of the Alabama race in April, we were in the top 10 at Virginia International, we qualified second quickest and set the fastest race lap at Lime Rock Park, and we used our backup car to battle back after having to forego our primary car at Watkins Glen.”

After qualifying on the front row and racing lock-step with the fastest cars on the track at Lime Rock Park last weekend, Subaru’s factory road race team looks forward to this Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen International in upstate New York.
 
“We finished 11th at Lime Rock, just like we did two weeks earlier at V.I.R.,” noted Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., where the team’s cars are prepped and tuned. “but the big difference is we were able to run up front and challenge for the lead.  At Lime Rock we were a front row team.”
 
“Our ‘crunch work’ this time between races is mostly in the body shop. The car was back home in our shops Sunday and work started immediately. We’ll recover from this just fine. We have every reason to remain optimistic!”

After a promising race weekend at VIRginia International Raceway, Subaru’s factory road race team looks forward to competing on one of its “home tracks” this Memorial Day weekend – the bucolic Lime Rock Park circuit in northwestern Connecticut.
 
Following a solid 11th place finish in the most recent race –at VIRginia International Raceway – the team looks forward to racing on the rolling 1.53-mile Lime Rock Park configuration in this, the fifth round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series.
 
The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) prepares and races a 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI 4-door model in the series for Subaru of America, Inc.
 
At Lime Rock, John Heinricy, the team’s technical director, is filling in for regular driver Andrew Aquilante, who is sitting out this race while recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in an off-course excursion the previous weekend at Summit Point, West Virginia.  Andrew is expected to return and at full strength for the Watkins Glen round. Co-driving with Heinricy is Bret Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., who is the team’s regular teammate to Andrew.

“I’ve had the opportunity to help develop this Subaru race car from the technical standpoint for the last couple years, so being asked to be one of its drivers in actual competition is a real treat. Driving cars in competition is something that’s always given me a lot of satisfaction, and ‘feeling the car myself will help me better work with Brett,” Heinricy said.
 
“The comparative short and winding Lime Rock Park can be an advantageous track for our Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive capabilities, which in turn helps us improve even more on our promising finish from VIR,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., where the team’s cars are prepped and tuned.

Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) co-drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude finished 11th in the 58-car field the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series on the 3.27-mile road course of Virginia International Raceway, near Danville, Va.  This outing served as only the team’s fourth competitive race event to date in the all-new 4-door model of the 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.
 
“We had it pretty well sorted for this race” said SRRT owner Joe Aquilante. “Our Subaru Impreza ran strong during the race, like it has so many times with our previous generation race-prepared Imprezas. We are still early in our car development program, but the car, crew and drivers all performed well.
 
Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., qualified the Subaru in a career-best fourth place in the 25-car Grand Sports class, with a lap average speed of 95.257 miles per hour on the winding 3.27-mile circuit, giving the team its best starting position all season.
 
“Bret found a magical place on the track to run interference relatively clean lap, but at the drop of the green flag, we were necessarily careful to avoid any of the potential accidents, and that caution dropped him back to between ninth and 15th place for the first part of the race,” Joe Aquilante said.
 
The Subaru Road racing team performed two flawless refueling and tire change stops on the car, but the yellow flags just kept coming. By the end of the race, more of the race had been un-contested behind the safety car, instead of at racing speed.
 
“There’s an old saying in racing that ‘Cautions breed more cautions’,” said Andrew Aquilante. “Too many times today we’d come out of a caution period of four or five laps behind the safety car, and on the first or second green flag lap, somebody else would cause a problem. You always pray they happen behind you and not ahead of you, which could easily involve you as an innocent bystander.  Unfortunately, I had some contact myself late in the race and that cost us a finish in the top ten”
 
“We placed 11th today against a large field of solid competitors,’ said, James Han, who manages the program for Subaru of America, Inc., “and we didn’t experience any mechanical challenges on a relatively new car. The development of our STI is on-course, and I’m confident that we can find ourselves a fixture in the top ten in future races.”

Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude are looking forward to the opening of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. The first major professional auto race of the season will take the green flag at 1:30PM ET on Friday, Jan. 28 at Daytona International Speedway.
 
The SRRT drivers will be one of 31 teams entered in the Grand Sports class race for the 2 1/2-hour race on the newly-reconstructed 3.56-mile combination oval and infield road course at Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
Racing a Grand Sports class 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI race-prepared and tuned by Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., co-drivers Andrew Aquilante of Chester Springs, Pa., and Bret Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., recently spent a weekend at Daytona, getting the feel of their newly-rebuilt Subaru, and becoming accustomed to the new racing surface on the oval portion of the world-famous race track.
 
“The new track surface was excellent, with the transitions from oval to the infield portions being much smoother.” Spaude said. “I loved the new 2011 STI right from the start. The handling is phenomenal!!
 
Andrew Aquilante added, “This new smoother surface on the oval makes a huge difference; the unsettling bumps are gone. And the 2011 4-door STI sports improved aerodynamics which should come into play much better for a track like Daytona!! In the infield, which was not repaved, we’ll have some mechanical advantage from our Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. The car is very balanced”
 
“Moving up to the Grand Sports class last year was a big jump for us,” said team owner Joe Aquilante, “but we have learned a lot. Our pre-season testing at Homestead and Daytona was promising with excellent progress. In addition, we have made some team changes, with Andrew also assuming the responsibility of Car Builder, coordinating and assembling the new car along with Kurt Omensetter, our Crew Chief.  The entire team has been working very diligently applying all of the lessons we learned”
 
James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of America, Inc. added, “We’re looking forward to kicking-off a solid 2011 Grand-Am campaign at Daytona. The team performed the bulk of development work last year plus the off-season, and I’m confident that we’re on the right path towards maximizing the performance benefits from our Subaru core technologies in the Subaru symmetrical AWD system and boxer engine. It’s natural for every team on the grid to experience some butterflies at the first race of each season. With our racing debut of the 4-door model of the Subaru WRX STI, this year’s Daytona is no different.”

Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Bret Spaude of Bushnell, Fla., and Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., handed Subaru its third top 10 finish of the 2010 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series with a 10th place finish in this past weekend’s Garden State 250 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
 
To score the team’s third top-10 finish of the season, the 22-year-old phenom drivers had to start last in the 25-car Grand Sports class field.
 
“Bret handed us a great fourth place qualifying lap,” said Phoenix Performance Inc., team owner Joe Aquilante. “Grand-Am’s post-qualifying inspection found a technical discrepancy. We corrected it but had to grid last in our Grand Sports class.”
 
Spaude started the race in the red 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI and climbed as high as seventh place in the 25-car Grand Sport field.
 
Passing as many as five cars in a single lap and turning laps within 1.5 seconds of the race leader, it took Spaude only 13 laps to pick up 10 positions. He was 10th by lap 24, despite having to hold station behind the pace car for eight of those 24 laps. In fact, a scant seven laps was the longest stretch of green flag racing in the first 24 laps.
 
The team’s first refueling/tire change stop, on lap 40, saw Spaude hand over the controls to teammate Andrew Aquilante. When the green flags again flew, Aquilante was in 19th place, but by lap 56 had charged hard to 12th ,  then pitted again for a gas tank refill that would get him to the end of the race, and was back to 12th place byy lap 71.
 
He hit the 10th spot on lap 76, only 25 seconds out of the race lead, and stayed there until the checkered flag flew on lap 87.
 
“Even though this is the third top 10 finish of the season for the Subaru Impreza, our mistake made AJ and Brett work too hard to get to that point,” said Joe Aquilante.
 
“We were happy to have such a good turnout of Subaru employees and owners over the weekend,” added James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of America, Inc. They had an opportunity to witness our two team drivers do a stellar job gaining back positions with limited green flag laps, and doing so in a precise manner. None of the 23 laps run behind the safety car involved AJ or Bret. They did a very professional job picking their way through the field.”
 
To this point into the 10-race season, the first eight races have been held in a narrow strip of geography stretching East/West between Millville,  NJ and Lexington, OH., an economical point for East Coast and Midwest-based teams.
 
The next two races, however, are a month apart –  Aug. 13 in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; followed by a haul to Salt Lake City, UT, haul for the Sept. 10-11 season finale.
 
The New Jersey race was televised on SPEED TV to air July 25 at 1pm ET.
 

This weekend, 22-year old Subaru Road Racing Team drivers Andrew Aquilante, Phoenixville, Pa., and Bret Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., want to capitalize on lessons learned throughout this season and make that trip this Saturday to the Winners’ Circle at their team’s home track at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ, during the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series race.
 
Between the 2008 and 2009 race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the SRRT drivers have finished a combined handful of seconds away from victory.  Aquilante and his co-driver finished third in the inaugural, 2008 race on the flat 2.25-mile circuit near Millville, N.J., and sixth last year. But the combined gap for the two years was only the distance of a Philadelphia Phillies centerfielder’s throw to home.
 
“AJ and Bret love racing with each other and against each other,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., which prepares the team’s Grand Sports class 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. “Last weekend they were competitors in identical cars in an SCCA National. It was a great chance for them to show each other what they had on equal turf, and each won a race. This weekend they can do it in the same car.”
 
“We’re getting close,” he added, “and having raced the Subaru Impreza at Millville in another series in 2009, we know where our advantages lie. We’re simply making the various tweaks, which combined, can be the difference between where you are and leading the pack.”
The 2 1/2-hour race is round eight of 10 in the season, and will take the green flag Saturday at 2:45pm ET.  The race is being televised by SPEED TV to air July 25 at 1pm ET.
 
Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., “This race is always a special weekend for Subaru as our headquarters are located less than an hour’s drive to the track, and Subaru serves as the official automobile and pace cars of New Jersey Motorsports Park.  With our Subaru Road Racing Team fielding the #35 Subaru Impreza WRX STI this weekend, the venue represents a great opportunity for Subaru fans and associates alike to cheer on the team and drivers at our home race track.”
 
Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Ron Davis Racing Radiators, Hawk Brakes, freeM of America, VAC Motorsports, Automotive Racing Products, Rockland Standard Gear, Quarter Master, 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.
 

Subaru Road Racing Team Heads to The Glen

Hot on the heels of their best finish of the season, Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude are looking forward to taking Saturday’s 10:15 a.m. green flag the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at the famed Watkins Glen International road racing circuit near Watkins Glen, N.Y.
 
The 2 1/2-hour race on the 3.4-mile WGI “long course” configuration will be round six of ten in the season.
 
Driving a 2010 Subaru Impreza WRX STI race-prepared and tuned by Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., Andrew Aquilante of Phoenixville, and co-driver Bret Spaude, of Bushnell, Fla., last weekend raced their way to a Grand Sport class fifth place finish at Lime Rock, Conn., experiencing a trouble-free race.
 
Each driver is but 22 years old, with Spaude in his sophomore professional auto racing season after a legendary championship career in go-karts, and Aquilante is in his third season with the team.
 
“AJ’s been racing at The Glen since he was legally old enough to do so, and Bret has raced here, so the track’s no stranger to them,” said Joe Aquilante. “From a mechanical standpoint, the work we put into our Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the first part of the season paid off last weekend. Now barring any mishaps, and on a track where we’re right at home, we can focus on refining our race strategy and leveraging our efforts in car development.”
 
Added James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., “Coming off an encouraging finish from just a week ago, our team feels confident about racing The Glen despite the quick turnaround of managing back-to-back weekend races.”
 
“On the whole, this track really rewards a well-balanced car and is a challenging drive.  Our core Subaru technologies which include the symmetrical AWD system and boxer engine should work to our benefit.”
 
The race will be televised by SPEED TV to air June 13 at 1pm.