Subaru Road Racing To Contest Round 3 of GRAND-AM Series

- SRRT’s 4-door STI to Run At Barber Motorsports Park -

Phoenixville, PA. – April 4, 2011

 Subaru’s factory road race team is looking forward to competing in this weekend’s twisty yet flowing track configuration which will play host to round 3 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.  The team’s two drivers see the April 8-9 race at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., as a great opportunity to post a result after this year’s earlier rounds.

“Handling is going to be a key factor at Barber,” said SRRT co-driver Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa. “We had our Subaru as high as fifth in the running order last year. Because of all the tight turns on this track, ultimate horsepower isn’t the total solution that it is at, say, Daytona. Here, you need a car that handles well, and that’s Subaru’s ace-in-the-hole.”

Bret Spaude, co-driver, agrees.  “Andrew and I are focused on exploiting our strengths. We are looking forward to Barber”.

“Our Subaru and the Barber track’s configuration were made for each other,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of Phoenix Performance of Phoenixville, Pa., where the team’s cars are prepped and tuned.

“It’s a tight and twisting track, but with no issues during the race, this can be an excellent weekend to show the capabilities of Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system will help our car accelerate out of the corners.”

Practice on the 2.3-mile road course begins Thursday afternoon, with qualifying Friday at 10:50am ET, and the 2 ½-hour race Saturday at 11:30am ET.

James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of America, Inc. added, “We were in line for a tremendous result last year at Barber [Motorsports Park] before a competitor car inadvertently pushed us off-track late in the race.  Andrew made a valiant sideways save and still managed to finish our STI in a solid 9th [position].  If we can stay ahead of any racing drama, our team should be in a good position this weekend.”

The race will be televised by SPEED TV to air April 16 at 2pm 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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