Altamonte Springs, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/14/2011 -- P1 Groupe driver, Bret Spaude of Bushnell, Florida is looking to build on a strong run at the Daytona International Speedway for the opening round of the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series, where the Subaru Road Racing Team debuted their new 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX STI.  The track doesn’t suit the all-wheel drive car as some of the others on the 2011 calendar, nonetheless the team went to work and came away with a 13th place finish in one of the more competitive classes in all of GRAND-AM racing.

“We had a good run at Daytona, and we learned a lot about the new car,” said Spaude. 

The driving tandem of Spaude and Andrew Aquilante of Chester Springs, PA were able to increase their lap times over the weekend every time they stepped into the car, with their fastest time of the weekend coming in the race itself.  Going into this weekends’ Kia 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway the team is preparing to build on what they learned at Daytona.  The #35 squad enters a track that better suits the attributes of Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system. 

“My job is to make sure I turn over a car that is in contention and one that Andrew can go out and bring home the finish,” said Spaude.  “The team gave us a great car for the race, and Andrew and I were both able to pick our spots and make up some important positions to be there at the end.”

“I think we could have a very strong run at Homestead, Andrew and I both have a lot of laps under our belts there and I think the team and Subaru are giving us a car to compete for a podium run,” continued Spaude.  “We really want to make a strong push for the Championship this season and the whole team knows we need to be competitive each and every race with the level of competition we’re facing out there if we’re going to have a shot at it.”

The race weekend kicks off with practice on Friday, March 4th at 11:50am, and the 2.5-hour race at 4:15pm on Saturday March 5th.  The race will air on SPEED TV on March 19th at 2pm EST. 

For more information on Bret Spaude go to www.p1groupe.com, and more information on the team can be found at http://www.srrtphoenix.com or http://www.phoenixperformance.net.