Aluminos, Inc.

The opening round of the SKUSA ProKart Challenge North program on February 13 was a successful event for the Team Aluminos squad. At the Jim Russell International Karting Center in Sonoma, California, Team Aluminos used their home track knowledge to put three of their five drivers competing on top of the podium, with a runner-up finish added in for good measure. Team tuner Fritz Leesmann scored the headline S1 victory with Jeff Smith and Larry Fraser scoring wins in S4 and TaG Senior.

Leesmann, an ICC standout the last few years, made his Stock Moto debut aboard an Aluminos-powered entry. Out of the box race day, Leesmann was the driver to beat as he posted the fast lap of the qualifying session - a 48.909. He would go on to lead all eight laps of the opening heat race, however a fault at the start cost him two positions in the finishing order. Leesmann battled back in the second heat to reassume the point by lap five, en route to the win. In the 20-lap feature, Leesmann was untouchable as the NorCal native posted the fast laps of the race to score the win by over eight-seconds.

“It was great to get back into the seat as it’s been a few months for me,” stated Leesmann following the event. “Aluminos gave me a chance to get back in and have fun. The Aluminos stock moto engine package is awesome so all I had to was fine-tune my CRG chassis throughout the event. If feels good to be on top of the podium.”

The 2010 season got underway for Team Aluminos as the Northern California-based operation headed south to Fontana for the opening round of the Superkarts! USA ProKart Challenge South at the CalSpeed Karting facility. Eight drivers piloted Aluminos-prepped machines in five categories ranging from Stock Moto to TaG. Ending the 2009 season with Team Aluminos driver coach Tom Dyer on top of the S3 podium at the SKUSA SuperNationals XIII, Team Aluminos began the 2010 season in the same fashion as Fernando Diaz put in a stellar performance in G1 for the victory to jump-start 2010.

A contender at the SKUSA SuperNationals XIII until a mechanical issue put him on the sidelines, Diaz returned behind the wheel for redemption. Diaz set the tone for the event as he posted the fast lap in the qualifying session - 45.569, quicker by nearly two tenths over his next competitor. In the 10-lap heat races, Diaz would walk the field to wins by three-seconds and five-seconds to secure the pole for the main event. At the start of the final, Diaz was relegated to second behind the defending class champion. After just two laps, Diaz regained the top spot and immediately stretched out to strong advantage, going on to take the victory by just under two seconds.

“It feels great to start the season with a win,” commented Diaz following the event. “We tested here two weeks prior and I feel it helped me a lot in order to find the right setup. Working with Fritz Leesmann and Tom Dyer under the Aluminos tent certainly helped with making the right decisions on the set up as the event went on to help secure the victory. I can’t thank them enough.”

The past two seasons has been a successful beginning in what promises to be a long future for Team Aluminos. The Danville, California-based operation, which came to life in late 2007 and splashed onto the karting scene with their debut at the 2007 SKUSA SuperNationals with excellent results and happy customers. From there, a great foundation was created to help produce consistent and solid results for the last two years in their Arrive and Drive program. Aside from the results, the crew at Aluminos has the received the respect and admiration from its customers - who continue to return each weekend to gain that extra edge in pursuit of their own personal goals.

“The past two years have been great for Aluminos,” stated owner Rob Soares. “Being a driver myself, I knew the concept I wanted for our Arrive and Driver program is what customers and drivers needed in order to provide a solid service that they would be able to gain individually from. I’ve surrounded myself with and hand selected top notch people I trust and respect to help out our customers. Each person at Aluminos is a key asset for their unique abilities to give our drivers that little something extra in only a manner in which their talents allow for. They are all very experienced racers and mechanics, which are invaluable in this racing environment.”

Aluminos has what can be considered a ‘Dream Team’ of instructors/tuners working with him throughout the season. Soares is by no means just an observer as he is a key component to what happens for each of his customers under the tent. As the one-time owner of KLS Racing - the former importer for the GP Kart brand - Soares knows the technical side of the race craft as well as a solid CV behind the wheel as a driver since 2000. His right-hand man and technical guru is George Tavares. Coming from a long background of motorsports, including rally cars to dirt bikes, Tavares has a vast knowledge of the technical side of racing. Soares and Tavares have been working together since 2002 and proven to be a potent duo.