Subaru Road Racing Team Debuts New Impreza(R) WRX(R) STI(R) at Daytona Raceway

CHERRY HILL, N.J., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Subaru of America, Inc. opened the 2010 road race season today with a strong 15th place finish out of 41 entries in the Grand Sport class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series at the Daytona Raceway. The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) is fielding two Impreza WRX STI racecars in the series this year. SRRT campaigned a single Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B in the series' Street Tuner class in 2009, taking second in both the Drivers' and Team Championships, along with 3rd in the Manufacturer chase.

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Four-time Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Touring 1 Northeast Champion Andrew Aquilante, from Chester Springs, Penn., will lead the Subaru road racing effort for 2010. He is in his third year driving for Subaru. Aquilante achieved nine top-ten finishes to complete 2009 tied for 2nd in the Drivers' Championship.  Bret Spaude of St. Petersburg, Fla. has joined SRRT as Aquilante's teammate. Spaude finished 2009 seventh in points in the Grand Am ST class and is a two-time SCCA Regional title holder.  Each driver is seeking his first Grand-Am win.

The 2010 Impreza WRX STI is the ultimate-performance Subaru, powered by a 305-horsepower turbocharged/intercooled Boxer engine and featuring driver-selectable powertrain and dynamic handling controls for world-class sports car performance. The WRX STI is built exclusively as an aggressively styled, wide-fender 5-door model with a design strongly influenced by the brand's competition heritage. Its drivetrain, which is exclusive to the WRX STI model, combines a six-speed manual transmission with the advanced Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD) version of Subaru Symmetrical All Wheel Drive. High-performance chassis elements include aluminum suspension components and a Brembo^® Performance Brake System.

Since 2009, the SRRT has been managed by SRRT Phoenix, LLC, through Joe Aquilante from Phoenix Performance, Inc. in Phoenixville, Penn. The senior Aquilante is a multiple race and title-winner in various series across different classes.  

About Subaru of America, Inc.

Subaru of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. of Japan. Headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J., the company markets and distributes Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive vehicles, parts and accessories through a network of approximately 600 dealers across the United States.  Subaru boasts the most fuel efficient line-up of all-wheel drive products sold in the market today based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fuel economy standards.  All Subaru products are manufactured in zero-landfill production plants and Subaru of Indiana Automotive Inc. is the only U.S. automobile production plant to be designated a backyard wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. For additional information visit www.subaru.com.

    
    
    Contact: Dominick Infante
             Subaru of America, Inc.
             856-488-8615
             [email protected]
    
             Jessica Tullman
             Subaru of America, Inc.
             310-352-4400
             [email protected]

SOURCE Subaru of America, Inc.