Team Aluminos Has Impressive Weekend at Red Line Oil Karting Championship
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- Created on Friday, 25 October 2013 01:08
- 25 Oct
Jason Toft garnered another victory in the early months of the new Aluminos chassis (Photo: dromophotos.com)
Success has been synonymous with the Aluminos operation. During the October 12-13 weekend, the ninth round of the Red Line Oil Karting Championship took place at the SimracwayPerformanceDrivingCenter. The home track for Aluminos, its drivers felt right at home when racing at the historic Sonoma, California facility. The team saw great results on the weekend, including another victory for the new Aluminos chassis behind the talent of Jason Toft in the premiere Pro Stock Honda class and podium finish with Billy Scott in the Rotax Masters.Petaluma, California’s Toft kicked things off Sunday morning when he beat out Aluminos teammate Will Preston for the pole position by just over a tenth of a second in Pro Stock Honda. In the first heat race, Toft led every lap but the last, as he was edged out for the win by new Aluminos chassis driver Brett Buckwalter. In the second heat race, Toft and Preston dueled in the opening laps, as Preston led the first lap. Toft would move into the lead and hold it for the rest of the race to secure the heat two win with Preston in second. Starting the main event on the pole position, Toft was set up to succeed in the feature race. Toft dominated as he led all 15 laps to score the victory, exactly one second ahead of the runner-up finisher. Preston, also aboard the new Aluminos chassis, was unable to shake off the bad-luck, and recorded an eighth place finish, just behind Andrew Vargas driving an Aluminos GP while Buckwalter struggled with engine issues in the main event.
New Aluminos Kart Gaining Momentum Off SKUSA SummerNationals Win
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- Created on Thursday, 03 October 2013 16:50
- 03 Oct
If you were debuting a brand new kart at a national event, a chassis that had your own blood, sweat and tears poured into its development, and was adorned with your team name, you couldn’t ask for a better outcome than to score a dominating victory in one of the toughest classes out there, at one of the biggest races of the year. For Rob Soares and his Aluminos squad, this was the exact result that was delivered when they rolled out their new Aluminos chassis for the S1 Pro Stock Moto main event at the fourth annual Superkarts! USA SummerNationals in Grand Junction, Colorado back in July. Long-time Aluminos lead pilot Daniel Bray – the 2011 SKUSA Pro Tour S1 champion – passed the #1 ranked Fritz Leesmann early on in the final and powered away to a thrilling victory, signaling the arrival of Aluminos as a leading chassis brand. The race was held at the ultra-racy Grand Junction Motor Speedway and fight in the S1 class was epic.
Soares actually debuted the new kart himself earlier in the year at a Red Line Oil Championship event at Simraceway in Sonoma, California, which is the home of the Aluminos headquarters. Soares won in his debut as well, sweeping the day in the Rotax Masters class.
“We’ve worked very closely with the GP Kart factory for years, providing detailed input and feedback from our drivers and staff in regards to chassis design and requirements specific to the tracks we run and the tires we are mandated to use,” offered Soares, who is looking forward to the fall and winter chassis sales season, as he hopes to put many drivers in new Aluminos karts for 2014. “We’ve taken all that knowledge and have worked up a design that will be the basis for our new Aluminos karts. Daniel’s win at the SummerNationals was a huge deal for us, as it verified that we’ve got a great product that’s capable of winning at the highest level.”
The overall design of the new chassis is six years in the making, and includes significant input over the year by the Aluminos team and many of the top-notch drivers who have run under Soares’ banner over the years. Veterans like Tom Dyer, Daniel Bray and Fritz Leesmann have all played roles in the design approach. Aluminos will offer three different models for 2014. The Sonoma and Rio options are both the 32mm chassis targeted at the shifterkart and TaG categories. The Sonoma uses the same tubing throughout the design, while the Rio utilizes tubing of mixed stiffness to deliver a different ride and unique tuning capabilities. The 30mm Estoril will be ideal of Rotax and TaG competition.
Team Aluminos is currently setting up shop in California for the Streets of Lancaster Grand Prix and will then be looking forward to this year’s SKUSA SuperNationals. The introduction of the new Aluminos chassis will be seamlessly into a proficient operation that formulates arrive-and-drive programs, driver coaching services, or customized tailored programs to fit the needs of their customers in either Stock Moto or TaG categories. If you are already planning for events in 2014, be sure to visit www.Aluminos.com for more information on their professional race team operation and also ShopAluminos.com for new and used chassis listings. Details for the entire chassis line, as well as all the trackside services, will be available on a brand new website that will be launching very soon.
Aluminos/PSL Karting Race Team Victorious at Red Line Oil Karting Championships
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- Created on Friday, 07 September 2012 17:36
- 07 Sep
Rob Soares drove to his second straight victory in the Rotax Masters category (Photo: Aluminos.com)The Aluminos/PSL Karting operation returned trackside on August 19 to compete in the sixth round of the Red Line Oil Karting Championship. The event was held at the home track of the professional race team - Simraceway at the Raceway in Sonoma, located in Northern California. A total of five drivers contested the event with the support and assistance of the experienced Aluminos/PSL Karting staff. Owner and part-time driver Rob Soares secured his second straight win in the Rotax Masters category while Carlos Calderon and Max Ellgen added podium finishes on the weekend.Soares began the event by posting the fast lap in qualifying, a 52.267-second lap. He went on to win the opening eight-lap heat race by a comfortable margin, clocking in with the fast lap in the process. The second heat saw Soares lead the opening circuits until an electrical issue with the engine slowed his pace, dropping him down to eighth place. Solving the issue during the break, Rob was back to full speed in the main event. Quick at the start, he navigated his Aluminos-prepared GP chassis to the point and never looked back. When the checkered flag waved, Soares extended out to a two-second advantage for his second victory of the year in the series. IN the same class was a beginner racer, Billy Scott, competing in his first ever race. Under the watchful eyes of the Aluminos staff and working with Soares on set-up tips for the conditions aboard his Aluminos-prepared CRG chassis, Scott drove to 11th place finish with consistent lap times throughout the day.
Aluminos/PSL Karting Race Team Score Top-Five Finishes at SKUSA SummerNationals
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- Created on Thursday, 16 August 2012 16:36
- 16 Aug
Kiwi driver Daniel Bray scored a top-five finish in the competitive S1 Pro Stock Moto category (Photo: On Track Promotions - otp.ca)The professional Aluminos/PSL Karting race team took on a packed paddock at the Superkarts! USA SummerNationals in Tooele, Utah. The Miller Motorsports Park was the site of the third and fourth rounds of the SKUSA Pro Tour on July 20-22, where the operation fielded eight drivers in four categories. Kiwi driver Daniel Bray returned to the states to record a fifth place finish in the headline S1 category with TaG Master driver Larry Fraser matching the same result.Bray, the defending series champion, qualified third to begin Saturday’s action. He finished third in the opening heat race but struggled with too much grip in the second, dropping to fifth and holding the position through the main event. The following day was another battle trying to free up the GP chassis. Qualifying third once again, Bray suffered a two position penalty for a parc-ferme infraction. Despite his best effort, the rest of the day did not pan out as expected, placing eighth in the main event. Bray commented on the weekend, "We were OK in qualifying because we could do a good time for a couple of laps before the kart started gripping up. But it was weird. We tried everything to dial the grip out but nothing, and I mean nothing, we tried - and which would have worked at any other track - seemed to work there."