Subaru Road Racing Team Plays Close to Home

- Aquilante, Spaude Look for Solid Subaru Finish at Millville -

Phoenixville, Pa. – July 21, 2011

Having just completed their longest haul to a race this season – a 6,000-mile round trip from Phoenixville, Pa., to Monterey, Calif., Subaru Road Racing Team co-drivers Andrew Aquilante and Bret Spaude this weekend are racing as close as possible to the team’s home – Millville, New Jersey, a mere 73 miles from their race shop in Phoenixville.

Their 2 ½-hour race on a flat, 2.25-mile configuration of New Jersey Motorsports Park, will be the penultimate event of the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season.

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.

Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Spaude, Bushnell, Fla., are coming off their season’s-best sixth place at Elkhart Lake, Wis., and what could have been another top 10 finish in California had the car not suffered a broken shock absorber.

“This is our home track,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance Inc., in Phoenixville, Pa., where the SRRT cars are race-prepared. “We’ve used it for development testing for Subaru so our drivers know the track.”

“The car is getting much faster and handling better as our development progresses. And with that, the drivers need to keep an extra vigil to make sure they don’t get caught up in a contact situations,” Aquilante added. “Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive System should be a big help this weekend.”

James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc., noted, “As much as we look forward to every race weekend in the series, this is the one venue which is that little bit more special based on its proximity to our race shop and national corporate office for Subaru.”  

Added Han, “This weekend’s weather forecast calls for humid and very warm temps, which will be taxing on both drivers and crew, so minimizing mental errors both on and off the track will be key.  That said, I’m confident in our team’s ability to cope with the challenging conditions and added pressure of performing in front of our ‘home’ crowd.”

Practice laps are Friday at 11:30am and 3:15pm, with qualifying Saturday at 10:10am and the 2.5-hour race taking the green flag at 2:45pm. The race will be televised by SPEED TV for airing July 30 at 3pm, 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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