06icywrx Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Martin, Segal Claim Front Row of KONI Sports Car Challenge's Fresh From Florida 200 http://www.grand-am.com/images/content/story/01222009KONIQualifyingPhoto.jpg DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 22, 2008) - Dean Martin made sure the Ford Mustang's practice speeds were no fluke Thursday afternoon. The Brookville, Mich., driver took the pole for Friday's Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway - the opening event on the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge schedule - in record time. However, a pair of BMW M3s and a Porsche 997 broke the Mustang's recent dominance of the top five speeds, with Jeff Segal and Matthew Bell qualifying second and third in two BMW M3s. Duncan Ende put a Porsche 997 in fifth. Meanwhile, Andrew Aquilante's three-day visit to the 3.56-mile track earlier this month paid off, as the Chester Springs, Pa., driver earned his first career KONI Street Tuner (ST) pole. He will share the front row with David Thilenius. Martin, who scored his first career KONI Grand Sport (GS) pole position Thursday, set a time of 1:59.555 (107.198 mph), the first driver ever in KONI competition to break the one-lap, two-minute mark in qualifying. The No. 59 Ford Mustang GT was quickest earlier this month in January Test Days practice. Martin said he likes his chances for Friday's three-hour race. He has only qualified a car four times - including in Thursday's session - and came away with two victories. His co-driver, Ken Wilden, has competed with the Rehagen Racing team five times and finished on the podium four times. Together, the duo won together in 2007 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the GS class. Segal, the 2007 KONI GS co-champion with Jep Thornton driving for Automatic Racing, was not originally scheduled to race with the team this season but he and Thornton struck a deal to race at Daytona earlier in the week. The pair finished third a year ago in points, and after two straight seasons in the No. 09 machine, the two will pilot the No. 91 BMW M3. Segal's time was 2:00.169 (106.650 mph). The No. 91 BMW M3 wasn't the only car to break up the Mustang's dominance of speed. GS rookie Bell qualified third in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 at 2:00.553 (106.310 mph), and he will drive with Bill Auberlen on Friday. Fourth in qualifying was Jack Roush Jr. - who ran fulltime last year at Martin - at 2:00.651 (106.224 mph) in the No. 61 Horsepower Ranch ROUSH/Valvoline Ford Mustang GT he shares with Hugh Plumb. Ende rounded out the top five, taking the No. 39 TRG TheDigiTrust Group/Adam's Polishes Porsche 997 to a time of 2:00.935 (105.974 mph). He shares the car with Spencer Pumpelly. Aquilante also paced a practice session earlier in the month at Daytona in the No. 111 Subaru Road Racing Team Subaru Legacy, and with Kristian Skavnes, will go for their first victory together. Aquilante set a time of 2:08.694 (99.585 mph), besting the previous record of 2:08.870. Not far behind Aquilante was David Thilenius in the No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Honda Civic Si, who drove the car to a time of 2:09.086 (99.283 mph). Thilenius will drive with rookie Bret Spaude. Another rookie, Josh Hurley, was third in the No. 171 APR Motorsport APR/BBS Volkswagen GTI he shares with Ian Baas, clocking in at 2:09.363 (99.070 mph). Compass360 Racing took fourth and fifth, with Christian Miller taking fourth in the No. 74 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si he shares with Randy Pobst. Miller's time was 2:09.398 (99.043 mph). Fifth was Peter Schwartzott, who turned a time of 2:09.500 (98.965 mph) in the No. 75 Compass360 Racing Honda Civic Si he co-pilots with Bo Roach. The Fresh From Florida 200, which will last three hours, will begin at 1:45 p.m. Defending winners Craig Stanton (GS) and Glenn Bocchino (ST) will return to compete in the race for BGB Motorsports and Kinetic Motorsports, both in the GS class. POST-QUALIFYING DRIVER NOTES This is only the third time in his career Martin has qualified a car. The first time he ever qualified was at Daytona in 2003, when he won the GS II race... While Ford Mustangs didn't dominate the top five in qualifying, they did earn six of the top 10 positions. In ST, the top dogs were the Honda Civic Sis, taking five of the top 10 spots ... Thilenius's Bill Fenton Motorsports team owns two class victories at Daytona; only HART has more (three)... Freedom Autosport driver Rhett O'Doski was involved in a practice accident when he lost control of his No. 146 Mazda MX-5 in the kink and hit the guardrail. He was transported to the infield medical center and then taken to Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he received X-rays and was later released... Sixty-five cars took times, including 34 in GS and 31 in ST. POST-PRACTICE DRIVER QUOTES DEAN MARTIN (No. 59 Rehagen Racing Ford Mustang GT): "Getting the pole here in Daytona was our first goal, and of course winning the race tomorrow is our ultimate goal. Our lap out there today was magic. The way our Mustang handled today and performed was just perfect. We've worked really hard during the off-season and we want to show everybody that we're the best and I think our team can carry today's success over into tomorrow's race. "A Mustang should definitely win and be on the podium tomorrow. I'll be honest; I was surprised that we went as fast as we did. I never expected to go that fast. We had been fighting the car all day and it wasn't so good, but I told the team not to mess with anything and to see what happens. I figured if I ran a two-minute flat lap, we'd be okay. So when I came by the timing light and it came up as a 1:59.60, I just went, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm just going to come in right now.' I was so excited and just really happy for our team." JEFF SEGAL (No. 91 Automatic Racing BMW M3): "It's going really well. I didn't have the KONI deal until the last minute. Jep Thornton, my co-driver for the last few years, said "Hey, lets do it. We'll just do one race and have a little bit of fun. We came out. We haven't practiced much at all - we weren't at the test days - so I think being on the front row isn't a bad start." ANDREW AQUILANTE (No. 111 Subaru Road Racing Team Subaru Legacy): "It was pretty good. The Subaru Spec B 2.5 liter was running really good. I was just trying to eek out a pole behind another car coming through the tri-oval and got a pretty good draft off of him and put together a good lap." DAVID THILENIUS (No. 27 Bill Fenton Motorsports Honda Civic Si): "I'm not sure we're as fast as we qualified but the car is real stable. I think we'll have a good race pace for tomorrow." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camber Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Congrats guys! Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camber Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 So what are the propects this year? Will any of the races be televised? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonwacker Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Well done! +1 on whether you'll be on the teevee sorry...this forum practically blows goat nuts so im not always on here.Team Pony Express POSTED FROM MY COMPUTER USING A WEB BROWSER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06icywrx Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Stay tuned for tv times and we finished second that's all I am telling you guys. Cause you have to see this race on tv it's really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonwacker Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Nice! sorry...this forum practically blows goat nuts so im not always on here.Team Pony Express POSTED FROM MY COMPUTER USING A WEB BROWSER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Awesome job!!!! When is it on TV? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06icywrx Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 This is the time Jan 31, 4:00 PM ET, SPEED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixlegacy Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 OK, here is the offical release. Hard fought battle, AJ led first 20 laps, Kristian was leading close to the end... and... Subaru Road Racing Team 2nd in Daytona racing season-opener Daytona Beach, Fla. – January 23, 2009 The Subaru Road Racing Team (SRRT) opened its 2009 Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge series racing season with a strong second place finish Friday at Daytona International Speedway. Both SRRT teammates, Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, Pa., and Kris Skavnes, Sparta, N.J., drove well enough to lead the race during their respective stints. Aquilante qualified the #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B on the pole in a field of 32 other Street Tuner competitors and led the first 29 laps. Skavnes came back through the field after a strategic fuel stop and regained the lead late in the race in a scintillating show of driving that showcased the Subaru symmetrical AWD system on a slick track from oil and debris. After being passed by a fellow competitor, relegating Skavnes to second, an untimely full-course caution due to a crashed car on-track with less than five minutes to go prevented the Subaru factory driver from making a final challenge for the race win. “I believe Kris could have re-taken the lead,” said Joe Aquilante, owner of the Phoenixville, Pa.-based Phoenix Racing team which built the team’s Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car and operates SRRT. “After Andrew qualified our car on the pole and led the first 29 laps of the race, we changed drivers during our first pit stop. Kris drove a masterful race and moved from fourth position into the lead within four laps. We had the car and showed the teamwork during pit stops to take the lead and win today’s race, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” Aquilante said.” Since the 2008 racing season ended last October, the team had been hard at work testing and developing its Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B race car in preparation for this year’s racing in the Street Tuner class of the 2009 KONI Sports Car Challenge series. “As a factory road racing team, SRRT always strives to fulfill a certain level of expectation based on attaining positive race results and reinforcing our Subaru performance message”, said James Han, motorsports marketing manager for Subaru of America, Inc. “The ST class in the KONI series is a highly competitive environment with multiple auto brands and models represented. The team’s results today really reaffirm the competitiveness of our Legacy platform against some strong competition and Subaru Road Racing Team’s execution to a well-thought out plan. Friday’s race will be televised by Speed TV to air at a later date. Sponsors for SRRT include Subaru Of America, Inc., Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru Performance Tuning (SPT), Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc., Automotive Racing Products, Hawk Brakes, Quarter Master, Ecutek, Racing Radios, Lista, Rotary Lifts, Cusco, Carbonetic, Mac Tools, Hella, Perrin, and Vedalo HD. Photo Caption: Andrew Aquilante and Kris Skavnes drove the Subaru Road Racing Team’s #111 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B. to a strong second place Friday at Daytona International Speedway in the Fresh From Florida 200 Grand-Am Koni Challenge race. About SRRT Phoenix Racing SRRT Phoenix LLC represents Subaru of America’s road racing efforts in the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge and is owned and managed by Joe Aquilante of Phoenix Performance, Inc. The team’s 4000 sq. ft. facility is in Phoenixville, Pa., 40 miles west of Philadelphia, PA. Team drivers Kristian Skavnes and Andrew Aquilante race a Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT spec.B. in the Street Tuner class. For more information about the team and the cars, call Joe Aquilante at (610) 482-0141. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackhore Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 This is the time Jan 31, 4:00 PM ET, SPEED Added to the DVR, Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonwacker Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Added to the DVR, Thanks! I can't wait to watch this! But my Comcast says I'm recording 3 hours of Barret-Jackson. They can be slow to update these things, but if not...the horror! Not a fan of watching cars sitting in an auction house. sorry...this forum practically blows goat nuts so im not always on here.Team Pony Express POSTED FROM MY COMPUTER USING A WEB BROWSER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackhore Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I can't wait to watch this! But my Comcast says I'm recording 3 hours of Barret-Jackson. They can be slow to update these things, but if not...the horror! Not a fan of watching cars sitting in an auction house.Its the right time slot, assuming you accounted for time zones. My DirecTV guide had it listed as Koni Challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterJMC Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Its the right time slot, assuming you accounted for time zones. My DirecTV guide had it listed as Koni Challenge. Koni Challenge is right. See the first line of the first post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aczwild Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Wow that was insane driving to get to the lead, you guys definitely deserved to win, jesus, I think I watched the passing sequence 10 times. Wow, excellent control JDM'd All to hell Thanks Jimmy @ Hkc-Speed.com! RIP Coxx & Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05Boost Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 they going to re-televise it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06icywrx Posted February 1, 2009 Author Share Posted February 1, 2009 I don't know maybe to night like late late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoonwacker Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 That was some great racing! I liked the pass on the apron sorry...this forum practically blows goat nuts so im not always on here.Team Pony Express POSTED FROM MY COMPUTER USING A WEB BROWSER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 That was some great racing! I liked the pass on the apron +1 i have this on my dvr and cant stop watching it. amazing driving, love the spec b deff a great car since there are virtually no engine mods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenixlegacy Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I don't think Speed rebroadcasts it... I will try to get some copies of the video... The race itself was great and the Team worked hard to getthere.. The Legacy GT is a GREAT car. What most people don't realize is that we race it at 3100 pounds, 300 to 400 pounds heavier than the Cobalts and over 500 pounds veavier than the Hondas... And we havethe same size tires... The symmetrical awd is just a great tool!!! Thanks to Subaru for building a great car in Indiana!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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