MONTEREY, Calif. (October 11, 2014) – Andrew Aquilante, of Phoenixville, Pa., has defended an SCCA National Championship for the second time this week, repeating in GT-2 at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs on Saturday in a route. Spencer Trenery, of Berkeley, Calif., and Mark Boden, Winnetka, Ill., ran second and third at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Aquilante drove his No. 36 Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/Hawk Chevrolet Corvette to the race’s fast lap of 1:30.267 (89.255 mph) on lap two, opening up a gap that would only grow as the race went on. The now five-time National Champion covered the 20-lap race in 30:33.904 for a 87.865 mph average on his way to a 26.561-second margin of victory.
It’s his second Championship at the 2014 Runoffs and fourth in two years, following his also successful defense of his Touring 1 crown.
“It feels pretty good,” Aquilante said. “You try not to look at the record book and say I want to win this many, because each championship has things that have to come together. I hate to say it, but luck is a part of it. Even here, the low voltage light came on with five to go, and so you never quite know if you’re going to make the end of the race over something stupid.
“We’re a family organization, we’re a small organization, and we’re real tight knit. I spent the last three weeks building this car, and it’s for one of our customers, John Yarish. I have to thank him for letting me use it. It feels really good in that sense, and it’s a proud achievement to come at it from both sides.”
Trenery’s No. 55 Fantasy Junction Porsche GT3 chased John Kachadurian’s No. 80 Chicago Motor Cars/Grey Fox Racing Porsche GT3 in the second pack, and appeared poised for another third-place finish (following Super Touring Lite earlier in the day). Kachadurian caught lapped traffic in the Corkscrew and ended up with body damage and a flat tire with just one lap to go forced him to pit lane.
“I ran on Yokohamas today, and John was on Pirellis, and we knew the Pirellis were going to be good right out of the box,” Trenery said. “He picked up a couple of seconds on me in the first part of the race, and I just wanted to be patient and clean and smooth and wait for his tires to come off. Lap five, it hadn’t happen, lap six, lap seven, lap 10, so toward the second half of the race I tried to pick it up a little bit, he got into some traffic, and I was able to get close enough to put some pressure on him. Unfortunately, at the top of the hill, he caught a lapped car in a place where there wasn’t a lot of room, and that gentleman wasn’t particularly aware.
“It’s great. I can’t say how happy I am to be on the podium in both of the classes I entered in my first Runoffs. There’s a lot of people to thank, particularly my dad Bruce. We’re an SCCA family, my mom went into labor at a four-hour enduro almost 35 years ago. So I was really born into this, and it’s a great feeling to have finally competed in the Runoffs.”
The No. 4 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche GT3 of Boden inherited third with Kachadurian’s late retirement after he held off a charging Scotty White toward the end of the race.
“I feel bad that my teammate’s contact took him out and put me up here, but we’ll take it,” Boden said. “I was having some issues with brake lock up from about lap six on, and I kind of went into preservation mode. I became aware of incoming traffic behind me, and once William in the Corvette lost his motor, there wasn’t much pressure. The guys ahead of me had a pretty good gap, and I just didn’t have the pace. I picked it up at the end, because I felt like I needed to.
“It’s always so much fun coming and competing in SCCA. It’s the heart of racing. There’s nobody here that’s here for anything more than the love of the sport and being part of such a great community. It’s fun. I tell the guys that are racing with our team, if you come to the Runoffs and leave as a better driver, then you’ve won. And if you leave with some metal, that’s great. It’s a wonderful event and we’re happy to be out here.”
White’s No. 0 Got CDL?/Knight Transport/BFGoodrich Tires Dodge Viper finished fourth, followed by Jim Goughary’s No. 46 Hoosier/Red Line Oil Nissan 350Z in the top five. Goughary’s nine spot improvement also earned him the Sunoco Hard Charger award.
The 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs®, The Pinnacle of American Motorsports, will crown Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Friday, October 10 through Sunday, October 12. The live broadcast of all 27 National Championship races is available live at SCCA.com, along with live timing and notes. Each race will be on demand at a later date on SpeedcastTV.com.
MONTEREY, Calif. -- Provisional results for Friday’s SCCA GT-2 National Championship at the 51st SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with finish position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, car and laps complete.
1, (1), Andrew Aquilante, Chester Springs, PA, Chevrolet Corvette, 20. 2, (3), Spencer Trenery, Berkeley, CA, Porsche GT3 Cup, 20. 3, (4), Mark Boden, Winnetka, IL, Porsche GT3 Cup, 20. 4, (7), Scotty White, Auburn, WA, Dodge Viper, 20. 5, (14), Jim Goughary, Houston, TX, Nissan 350Z, 20. 6, (12), Robert Kahn, Las Vegas, NV, Chevrolet Corvette, 20. 7, (10), Mark Ruden, Cupertino, CA, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 19. 8, (11), Rick Parker, Parker, AZ, Porsche GT3 Cup, 19. 9, (6), Michael von Quilich, Pahrump, NV, Dodge Viper, 19. 10, (15), John Stott, Norco, CA, Mazda RX-7, 19. 11, (17), Wayne Graham, Santa Barbara, CA, Mazda RX-7, 19. 12, (19), Leroy Lacy, Morgan Hill, CA, Sunbeam Tiger, 19. 13, (2), John Kachadurian, Chicago, IL, Porsche GT3 Cup, 17. 14, (9), Ken Muth, Snohomish, WA, Nissan 240SX, 16. 15, (13), Jim Valdez, Denver, CO, BMW M3 (E46), 16. 16, (18), Robert Kelley, Huntington Beach, CA, Chevrolet Monte Carlo, 9. 17, (5), William Brinkop, Merced, CA, Chevrolet Corvette, 7. 18, (16), Mark Kibort, Saratoga, CA, Porsche 928S4, 4. DNS, (8), Oli Thordarson, Trabuco Canyon, CA, Chevrolet Corvette, .
Overall Time of Race: 30:33.904 (87.865 mph) Margin of Victory: 26.251 seconds Fastest Race Lap: 1:30.267 (89.255 mph) Sunoco Hard Charger: #46 Jim Goughary Lap Leaders: #36 Andrew Aquilante, laps 1-20
2014 SCCA National Championship Runoffs
