Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 - (Page 80)

Hemmingson and Skavnes ﬁnished the ICY/Phoenix Racing Subaru Legacy 2.5GT spec.B in front of eight other car manufacturers to win the Grand-Am KONI Challenge series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Sunday. Rise of the ICY/Phoenix It’s the beauty of All-Wheel-Drive Words by Travis Geny Photos courtesy of ICY/Phoenix Racing W hile tuners twitter on about big turbos and going faster than the other guy and mean-mug each other over the Internet, a group of dedicated Subaru enthusiasts has taken to the track in honest-to-God circuit racing. This isn’t an SCCA club weekend either, but rather world-class saloon and GT racing set to the backdrop of the prototypes and sports cars of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. The Grand Am Koni Challenge runs as a support series for the Prototypes, but is nonetheless very competitive and hard fought. Featuring production-based coupes and sedans, everything from Mazda 6’s and even Mini Coopers, can be found trading paint with the ICY Racing Legacy spec.B’s. The team runs a pair of spec.B Legacy sedans, which are more stock than one might think. Modifications are kept at a minimum to keep the playing field level, even with such a diverse array of cars. The team is composed of five drivers, with Dave Rosenblum and Andrew Aquilante in the number 141 car and Chuck Hemmingson and Kristian Skavnes in the number 111 car, with Joe Aquilante also tackling driving duties. Dave and Joe co-own and head-up the team as well as take to the track. The team started the season well enough, if not as well as hoped, at the three-hour endurance race at the season opener in Daytona, Fla., on January 25. A series of full-course cautions whittled the team’s fifth and sixth-place position down to 11th and 12th. “Our cars were in fifth and sixth places with 45 minutes to go,” said team co-principal Joe Aquilante. “We needed a refueling stop to make it to the finish, and no sooner did we complete it for both cars than somebody crashed and the safety car came out. We pitted while the cars were running at full speed, and our competition did it while the field was at reduced speed. It was a deficit that no one could have overcome.” “Our finishes weren’t the fault of our great Subaru cars or fault of the drivers. It was something we couldn’t control,” added Rosenblum, also a coprincipal as well as driver. The next chance for the team to show its mettle would come a full four months later at Lime Rock 80 SEPTEMBER 2008

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Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008 Features Contents Editor Letters Readers' Rides New Products Subaru News 2009 Impreza WRX East Meets West Shoebox Sleeper Bettering the Breed ...Even the Kitchen Sink WRC Rally Greace WRC Rally Turkey Rally America: New England Rally America: STPR 2008 STI Open Class GCRallyX R4 Where to Buy Subiesport ICY Racing E85 & Methanol Rebuild Your Heads Budget Building Ad Directory Spotted!

Subiesport Magazine - August/September 2008

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