Bret Spaude Barber 200 Race Recap
One of the Young Guns in the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series, Bret Spaude is quickly opening eyes with his on track performance.
- (1888PressRelease) April 14, 2011 - One of the Young Guns in the 2011 GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series, Bret Spaude is quickly opening eyes with his on track performance, and this past weekend for the Barber 200, was on a mission to put his Subaru Road Racing Team in contention to win. Spaude would qualify his Subaru WRX STI in eighth position for Saturday's race, but would start from sixth after a few cars were forced to the rear of the field for qualifying infractions.
Bret was quickly up to speed at the drop of the green flag, picking his overtaking spots carefully, making sure to take care of his equipment as the leaders would battle viciously ahead of him. The all-wheel drive car allows Spaude to balance the wear on his tires evenly across all four tires, and he figured that would come into play as the race wore on. In time Bret was able to crack the Top-5, and under yellow flag conditions, the team took the gamble by not pitting. This strategy put the #35 Subaru machine in the lead for the restart. States Spaude; "I will admit that when Joe called for us to stay out on the first caution I was very concerned about the strategy. On the other hand it allowed us to be able to take the lead and showcase our awesome car. The flag dropped on the restart and off she went."
At the drop of the flag the Subaru was overtaken going into turn 1, but in a great showing of patience and skill Spaude was able to retake the lead a few turns later. He would hold that lead until the next caution, some seven laps later, turning the car over to his co-driver Andrew Aquilante from the overall lead. "Leading in my first GRAND-AM event at Barber Motorsport Park was very cool. I have been going to Barber for many years as a karter and now as a GRAND-AM driver the past few trips, and I love that track." Spaude continues; "We had a great run just like last years' race there. Our Subaru WRX STI was by far the class of the Field. When I was able to pass for 4th place, I knew that our car was going to be the one to beat! We pulled out to a two second lead in a few laps before the next caution came out. Our Subaru was the only car not in a four wheel slide/pitch/drift the entire time on the track."
When Aquilante went out, still under the caution period, the car locked up going into turn five, unable to restart, had to be towed into the paddock, ending a strong showing for the team on the day. "Sadly, a small fuse blew out causing an ECU failure that retired us early. Playing the rest of the race out according to our computing and math, our pit strategy was dead on for a race win" states Spaude. The Barber 200 will be televised this Saturday, April 16th on SPEED at 2pm EST.
Next up for Spaude is the ''The Devil in the Dark 12 Hour Endurance Race'' at New Jersey Motorsport Park, April 30th. He will be part of a four-driver lineup also featuring his usual co-driver in Andrew Aquilante. They will be sharing the Pontiac Firebird known locally as "The Buzzin Half Dozen", and is Spaudes' first 12 hour race in three years; "I am always excited to do longer races. I normally don't get to do much night driving which is always fun. We will see how the driver rotation goes, hopefully we all we will get a good amount of seat time. New Jersey is a great place to hold this event for us. It's a great way to help get ready for the GRAND-AM event there later in the year" mentions Spaude of the event.
More information on Bret Spaude can be found at www.bretspaude.com, www.Subaruroadracingteam.com, www.p1groupe.com, and www.andreameadcross.com.
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