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.”