SCC: Birmingham: Subaru Road Racing Team race notes

Subaru Road Racing Team Drivers Edge Toward Championship
- Aquilante, Skavnes pick up 6 points -

Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) drivers Andrew Aquilante and Kristian Skavnes came into Saturday's Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge 24 points out of the lead for the series Driver Championship.

Following the two-hour, 30-minute race at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Ala., the duo sit six points closer to that goal, thanks to a third place finish, only 10 seconds away from the top rung of the winners circle. The points leader finished seventh today.

The team's #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B., prepared by Phoenix Performance in Phoenixville, Pa., headed the 21-car pack twice -- for four total laps - during Aquilante's 45-lap stint. Subaru is one of nine car manufacturers represented in the KONI series' Street Tuner class.

The race was taped by SPEED TV and scheduled to air July 25 at Noon ET.

Aquilante, on the opening lap, moved into second place from his third place qualifying position, and took the race lead for lap 37, and laps 39-44, consistently staying hot on the heels of the eventual race-winning car. He pitted on lap 45 of 83 in the race, turning the controls over to teammate Skavnes, who re-entered the race in fourth spot after the pit stop but jumped to second place two laps later.

Team owner Joe Aquilante noted the Subaru Legacy did what was asked of it. "Both AJ and Kris were very good about not over-extending the car until it was time, but we made a tactical error by not changing the rear tires during our pit stop. We only changed the fronts because it was quick, but with full-time all-wheel drive on the Subaru, the rear tires were in a condition late in the race that they couldn't help as much as we needed."

Aquilante owns the Phoenixville, Pa.-based SRRT Phoenix outfit which prepares the team's Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car and serves as factory race partner for Subaru of America, Inc. This is SRRT's third season racing the Subaru Legacy.

James Han, Motorsports Marketing Manager for Subaru of America, noted that although Subaru lost a little ground in its drive for a Manufacturer Championship, "Subaru is the only auto brand out of the nine manufacturers represented in the series with just the one car. We're well within reach of earning our first Grand-Am title, and considering the average entry counts and depth of competition, the team is representing Subaru well and putting in consistently strong performances with our Legacy platform. That said, the final three races will be crucial."

The ninth of 11 races on the season will be Aug. 14-15 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, an hour east of Montreal. Held on a 1.52-mile, 10-turn circuit through the streets of the city, the 90-minute event is the only KONI Challenge race of the season not held on a purpose-built race track.

-credit: srrt