SCC: Millville: Subaru Road Racing Team preview

Subaru Road Racing Team Takes Points Lead Into 'Home' Race

Phoenixville, PA -- When the green flag flies Saturday afternoon to begin the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge race at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the Subaru Road Racing Team and its drivers will start the race sharing the points lead in the coveted Team and Driver Championships.

The two factory drivers of SRRT's #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B sedan are Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Kristian Skavnes, Sparta, N.J., who raced earlier this season to a second place finish at Daytona and a fifth at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Aquilante qualified the car on the pole in both races.

Joe 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. The team won two KONI Challenge races in 2007 and one in 2008. The car races in the Street Tuner class, the larger of the two classes in the series, with nine different manufacturers represented.

"Our Subaru team is led by Klevis Prifti as the crew chief plus team members Matt Smith and Jason Lang," Joe Aquilante noted. "I like watching the way Andrew and Klevis work together -- a 21-year old driver and 22-year old crew chief. Considering their combined ages, they can be proud of the season-to-date, and we plan for that to continue at a race track which is only 75 miles from our home base, and under 40 miles from Subaru of America's U.S. headquarters in southern New Jersey.

"The Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive system, turbocharged 2.5 liter boxer engine configuration, and performance-oriented Legacy platform are all working in the team's favor," said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc.

"The team performed well here last year," Han added. "After two-and-a-half hours of hard racing, we were a mere 1.7 seconds away from the win, but in a series this competitive, that was 'only' good enough for third place. Since Subaru is a corporate sponsor and also the official automobile plus pace car for New Jersey Motorsports Park, strong performances are always just that much more special at this round on the Grand-Am calendar."

"The Subaru's advantages at this track will really come into play through the slower corners and the little uphill sections where we should make good use of the Legacy's all-wheel drive and turbocharger," Andrew Aquilante opinioned.

-credit: srrt