Victories for Aluminos/PSL Karting Race Team at Red Line Oil Karting Championship
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- Created on Thursday, 02 August 2012 20:20
- 02 Aug
Aluminos driver coach-team driver Fritz Leesmann scored his second straight victory in Pro Stock Honda (Photo: Jerry Imoden - Kart Art)The Aluminos/PSL Karting race team recorded another successful weekend trackside, this time taking part in round four of the Red Line Oil Karting Championship at the Simraceway International Karting Center in Sonoma, California. The 3/4-mile circuit is the home track for the Aluminos/PSL Karting squad and fielded eight drivers in four divisions. Driver coach Fritz Leesmann and Aluminos/PSL Karting owner Rob Soares raised the trophy in the P1 position in their respective categories while Micro Max drivers Max Ellgen and Ethan Tavares each stood on the podium.Four Aluminos/PSL Karting drivers contested the Pro Stock Honda category, led by driver coach/team driver Fritz Leesmann. The current Superkarts! USA Pro Tour S1 Pro Stock Moto championship leader made his second straight series start. His first event was a complete sweep on Memorial Day weekend. This time around, Leesmann was challenged but came away with the feature win and near-maximum points. Leesmann posted a 48.340-second lap in qualifying to secure the pole position by over four-tenths. After a near three-second win in heat one, Leesmann missed the holeshot heat two, finishing a close second. Running in the second position early on in the feature, Leesmann stepped up the pace in the second half of the race, taking over the lead and driving away to a two-second victory. The Diede brothers - Troy and Cody - have been working with Leesmann for 2012, competing in the S2 Semi-Pro division on the Pro Tour. The work seems to be paying off as they both have been running more consistent and have improved their race pace. They ran to finishes of fifth and sixth against a number of S1 drivers, putting in strong performances on the day. Colorado driver Cory Milne was battling for a top-five finish all day but issues at the start of the main event sidelined the rookie driver.
Aluminos owner Rob Soares dominated the Masters Max division (Photo: Jerry Imoden - Kart Art)Aluminos/PSL Karting owner Rob Soares made his annual pilgrimage back to the seat on the weekend and showed the team what it takes to win. Racing against the large Masters Max field, Soares was the top driver in every session. Soares qualifying time of 52.287 seconds put him pole position for both heat races. With the advantage of the P1 starting spot, Soares led both eight-lap races with wins by four seconds and six seconds. With consistent fast laps, Soares led green to checker in the 15-lap main event with a seven-second advantage.Two drivers represented Aluminos on the podium for the Micro Max category. Working with the team under the Aluminos tent, Max Ellgen and Ethan Tavares drove to second and third place finishes. Tavares was second through qualifying and the opening heat before Ellgen picked up the pace to take the position in heat two and the feature. Tavares is the championship leader thus far with Ellgen sitting second in the point standings.
Max Ellgen (11) and Ethan Tavares (1) drove to second and third in the Micro Max category under the eyes of the veteran Aluminos staff (Photo: Jerry Imoden - Kart Art)Carlos Calderon rounded out the Aluminos/PSL Karting squad for the weekend, as he fought valiantly in the Senior Max division that features some of the top drivers in the western half of the country. Calderon was quick in qualifying, missing out on the pole position by just 13-thousandths of a second. During the opening heat, Calderon was racing within the lead pack and on the final circuit, a competitor made an ill-timed move to driver over Calderon and his machine. The result put him on the sideline. Thankfully with the Aluminos shop on location, Calderon was able to repair the chassis and components but missed the second heat. Calderon came from 11th to finish sixth with the second fastest lap of the race of the main event, showing the craftsmanship and knowledge of the Aluminos team. The quick lap went to Leesmann, who started from the tail of the field as well after missing both heat races. He then laid down the fast lap moving up to the fifth spot after 15 laps with Calderon on his bumper.Next on the agenda for the Aluminos/PSL Karting race team will next be the Superkarts! USA Pro Tour SummerNationals at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Both Leesmann and Cody Diede have wins at the facility already, with more success looming on the horizon. Arrive and drive programs, driver coaching services, or customized tailored programs to fit your needs are available for the event in either Stock Moto or TaG categories. Be sure to visit http://www.Aluminos.com for more information on their professional race team operation and also ShopAluminos.com for new and used chassis listings.