The Team Aluminos kart racing squad opened up their assault on the ProKart Challenge SoCal program with the first round held at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana, CA this past weekend. Eight drivers battled in three categories for the San Ramon, California based operation with Canadian Scott Rossi and Colorado pilot Marc Elliot earning podium finishes aboard their Aluminos-prepared GP karts.
After running the SKUSA WinterNational Championship Series with Team Aluminos, Rossi made the late decision to attend the event and, after a flight delay, the Canadian arrived late on Friday evening, missing the entire day of practice. With very little sleep and fighting an illness all day, Rossi performed like veteran rather than the rookie senior driver that he is. Competing against a former two-time national champion in Alex Speed, Rossi held his own, running second to Speed in qualifying and both heat races. The long day took its toll on the young driver, as the illness over came him in the final, dropping him to the third position on the podium.
In the S3 class, four drivers were flying the Team Aluminos colors, each showing good speed while competing for the podium spots. Early on, Brad Dunford led the squad with a third in qualifying, followed by Stock Moto newcomers Kyle Hathcox (fourth) and Harley Owen (sixth). Colorado’s Marc Elliot - making the transfer from the S1 class – was seventh fastest. Hathcox was the highest finisher in the two heat races, running third, but it would be Elliot who would put Team Aluminos on the podium in the main event.
Elliot got the jump on Hathcox at the drop of the green and would advance to third on lap four and would go unchallenged for the 20-lap race. Dunford would get shuffled back in the opening laps, but rebounded to follow Owen across the line for an Aluminos 3-4-5-6 finish in S3.
Blair Chang represented Team Aluminos in G1 after moving up from the G2 category. Getting in quicker laps towards the end of the weekend, Chang’s main event was cut short after 12 laps as he too was feeling under the weather. In Chang’s his former division, rookie Kurt Brunner and Bryan Benso - returning to karting for the first time since SuperNats in 2006 - competed in a growing field. Benso improved each session out, advancing up to fifth in the main event, while Brunner continued to gain valuable racing experience with a 10th place finish.
Continuing to establish its position in the sport, Aluminos Inc. is a manufacturing and distribution company specializing in kart racing specific products, based out of San Ramon, CA. The nucleus of the company began as an asset purchase of a portion of Ron White’s Mirage Motorsports by Aluminos’ Rob Soares. A fixture in the US karting scene for the last five years, the former owner of GP kart importer KLS Racing has returned to the competition side of the sport, creating the Aluminos Trackside Support and Arrive & Drive programs while working with GP Karts and KLS Racing.
Anyone interested in learning more about this professional team are asked to contact Aluminos owner Rob Soares at 925.786.7865 or visit them online at http://www.aluminos.com . You can also e-mail Rob via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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