A Rolex GT Prep ONE (Stock Framed) Corvette!!!
05-13-2008, 08:21 PM
#1
Supporting Vendor
Thread Starter
A Rolex GT Prep ONE (Stock Framed) Corvette!!!
May 13, 2008
Aquilante Set for Double Duty at Lime Rock
By J.J. O'Malley
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 13, 2008) - Andrew Aquilante will be a busy man in the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend at Lime Rock Park. In addition to his regular ride in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge in the ICY/Phoenix Subaru, the 20-year-old Chester Springs, Pa., driver will debut a new Corvette in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT class.
Aquilante, the 2007 SCCA Touring 1 National Champion, will co-drive the No. 35 Phoenix Performance Corvette with veteran John Heinricy, an 11-time SCCA National Champion, in Monday's GT race. Calling the shots from the pits will be four-time National Champ Don Knowles, who will co-drive with Aquilante in the No. 141 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT in Saturday's KONI Challenge Street Tuner race.
Aquilante made an impressive KONI Challenge debut at Lime Rock last year, leading a race-high 36 laps in the 11th-place No. 24 V-Pack Motorsport BMW 330i he shared with Matt Connolly and John Steinmetz. That race was won by Aquilante's current KONI Challenge team, with Chuck Hemmingson and Kris Skavnes at the wheel of the No. 111 ICY Phoenix Racing Subaru Legacy.
He is the son of veteran racer Joe Aquilante, who has been involved with street stock racing since the mid 1980s in the former IMSA Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship. The elder Aquilante made his son project manager for the GT Corvette -- including ordering the parts it needed, dealing with suppliers, tracking shipments, doing most of the assembly work, budgeting, etc.
"I've built cars before, including my National Championship Corvette, but this is the first car I've built to this magnitude," Aquilante said. "This car is very different from the SCCA car, where you keep the original interior of the car. This car is much more sophisticated. My dad actually bought this car at an auction the weekend before the Rolex 24. We drove it around Daytona, drove it home and then started taking it apart."
To drive and manage the team, Aquilante brought along two of his racing heroes, Heinricy and Knowles. Both drivers co-drove with the elder Aquilante in the early days of the Firehawk series, while Heinricy drove for Phoenix from 1993-2001, winning a pair of championships.
"I grew up watching them drive, so I guess you can call them two of my racing heroes," Aquilante said. "Actually, Don Knowles was my first driving instructor for my first racing school at Roebling Road."
The team joins a crowded field in the GT class, including solid efforts from Pontiac GXP.R, Porsche, Mazda and Mustang teams.
"We would hope to be real competitive," Aquilante said. "Obviously, I don't expect to win right off the bat, but I think Lime Rock is a track where a driver can make up for a car's deficiencies, if there are any."
Aquilante is looking for the top of the podium in the KONI Challenge race.
"Last year, Chuck and Kristian won in a Subaru and I led in my first KONI Challenge race," he said. "I think we've got an excellent shot at winning with both cars on our Subaru team. We finished 11th and 12th in this year's season opener at Daytona. We were running fourth and fifth with 45 minutes remaining. Then, right after we pitted for fuel, the yellow came out. If you forget that yellow flag situation, I thought both of our cars were top three material. "
In only four years, Aquilante has crafted an impressive racing resume. He won the national title in a Corvette at Heartland Park Topeka in the 44th SCCA National Championship Runoffs. He was presented with the prestigious SCCA President's Cup after Aquilante led every practice session, won the pole and led every lap en route to taking the title with a seven-second margin of victory. He also won the pole for the 2006 Runoffs in a Phoenix-build Pontiac Solstice, with Knowles going on to win his fourth national championship. Aquilante also won four consecutive SCCA Northeast Division T1 championships from 2004-2007.
Back to article.
Aquilante Set for Double Duty at Lime Rock
By J.J. O'Malley
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 13, 2008) - Andrew Aquilante will be a busy man in the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend at Lime Rock Park. In addition to his regular ride in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge in the ICY/Phoenix Subaru, the 20-year-old Chester Springs, Pa., driver will debut a new Corvette in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 GT class.
Aquilante, the 2007 SCCA Touring 1 National Champion, will co-drive the No. 35 Phoenix Performance Corvette with veteran John Heinricy, an 11-time SCCA National Champion, in Monday's GT race. Calling the shots from the pits will be four-time National Champ Don Knowles, who will co-drive with Aquilante in the No. 141 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT in Saturday's KONI Challenge Street Tuner race.
Aquilante made an impressive KONI Challenge debut at Lime Rock last year, leading a race-high 36 laps in the 11th-place No. 24 V-Pack Motorsport BMW 330i he shared with Matt Connolly and John Steinmetz. That race was won by Aquilante's current KONI Challenge team, with Chuck Hemmingson and Kris Skavnes at the wheel of the No. 111 ICY Phoenix Racing Subaru Legacy.
He is the son of veteran racer Joe Aquilante, who has been involved with street stock racing since the mid 1980s in the former IMSA Firestone Firehawk Endurance Championship. The elder Aquilante made his son project manager for the GT Corvette -- including ordering the parts it needed, dealing with suppliers, tracking shipments, doing most of the assembly work, budgeting, etc.
"I've built cars before, including my National Championship Corvette, but this is the first car I've built to this magnitude," Aquilante said. "This car is very different from the SCCA car, where you keep the original interior of the car. This car is much more sophisticated. My dad actually bought this car at an auction the weekend before the Rolex 24. We drove it around Daytona, drove it home and then started taking it apart."
To drive and manage the team, Aquilante brought along two of his racing heroes, Heinricy and Knowles. Both drivers co-drove with the elder Aquilante in the early days of the Firehawk series, while Heinricy drove for Phoenix from 1993-2001, winning a pair of championships.
"I grew up watching them drive, so I guess you can call them two of my racing heroes," Aquilante said. "Actually, Don Knowles was my first driving instructor for my first racing school at Roebling Road."
The team joins a crowded field in the GT class, including solid efforts from Pontiac GXP.R, Porsche, Mazda and Mustang teams.
"We would hope to be real competitive," Aquilante said. "Obviously, I don't expect to win right off the bat, but I think Lime Rock is a track where a driver can make up for a car's deficiencies, if there are any."
Aquilante is looking for the top of the podium in the KONI Challenge race.
"Last year, Chuck and Kristian won in a Subaru and I led in my first KONI Challenge race," he said. "I think we've got an excellent shot at winning with both cars on our Subaru team. We finished 11th and 12th in this year's season opener at Daytona. We were running fourth and fifth with 45 minutes remaining. Then, right after we pitted for fuel, the yellow came out. If you forget that yellow flag situation, I thought both of our cars were top three material. "
In only four years, Aquilante has crafted an impressive racing resume. He won the national title in a Corvette at Heartland Park Topeka in the 44th SCCA National Championship Runoffs. He was presented with the prestigious SCCA President's Cup after Aquilante led every practice session, won the pole and led every lap en route to taking the title with a seven-second margin of victory. He also won the pole for the 2006 Runoffs in a Phoenix-build Pontiac Solstice, with Knowles going on to win his fourth national championship. Aquilante also won four consecutive SCCA Northeast Division T1 championships from 2004-2007.
Back to article.
05-13-2008, 08:23 PM
#2
Supporting Vendor
Thread Starter
Original story posted on the Grand Am website. More details and pictures to come... The car is being finished up this week... Its been a long haul for the kid.. 6 weels of 15 hour days and a lot of challenges... Hopefully, it will run well...
05-13-2008, 08:33 PM
#3
Le Mans Master
Good luck to Andrew, Joe.
I'll be cheering for Roar Racing & you guys in the Koni ST challenge race.
Andrew have my total support in Monday's race.
I'll be cheering for Roar Racing & you guys in the Koni ST challenge race.
Andrew have my total support in Monday's race.
05-13-2008, 08:59 PM
#5
Race Director
I like the way they make themselves sound like amateurs....they've run Grand Am Cup and World Challenge quite a bit, and should be very competitive if the rules are in their favor. Good to see another Vette trying to run down the Porsches and Pontiacs
05-13-2008, 09:11 PM
#6
Racer
Member Since: May 2002
Location: Scottsdale AZ
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Not another tube frame vette, but the only "real" vette with it's factory frame.
They are working at light speed getting it done, I saw it 6 weeks ago and all it was - was a frame with half a roll cage.
The boy is doing much of the work himself 15 hours a day.
Good luck young man, you have come a long way since we ran regionals together in 04.
Now don't get cocky or it's back in the trash can with ya!
They are working at light speed getting it done, I saw it 6 weeks ago and all it was - was a frame with half a roll cage.
The boy is doing much of the work himself 15 hours a day.
Good luck young man, you have come a long way since we ran regionals together in 04.
Now don't get cocky or it's back in the trash can with ya!
05-14-2008, 08:29 AM
#12
Le Mans Master
No matter what - he is learning a lot of important lessons right now...
05-26-2008, 05:16 PM
#18
Safety Car
Here ya go...
Do you think they brought enough tyres? (Sorry, couldn't find any of the "girls")
How do you say Corvette in Italian???
Iso Grifo!
Note the COPO valve covers.
Another sexy Italian
Do you think they brought enough tyres? (Sorry, couldn't find any of the "girls")
How do you say Corvette in Italian???
Iso Grifo!
Note the COPO valve covers.
Another sexy Italian
Last edited by parkerracing; 05-26-2008 at 05:19 PM.
05-26-2008, 05:50 PM
#20
Race Director
These two Vettes belong to Team Sahlen, both are "prep 2" GT cars in the Rolex Series. In an effort to save money they both run a solid rear axel. This is the 2nd year they have been running Corvettes in the GT class
You can read more about them when my story in Corvette Enthusiast Magazine hits the news stands
The team is private with no help from the factory or GM
This image is from VIR last month.
You can read more about them when my story in Corvette Enthusiast Magazine hits the news stands
The team is private with no help from the factory or GM
This image is from VIR last month.
Last edited by 69mako; 05-26-2008 at 05:54 PM.