Wrapping up the final round of the ProKart Challenge North program, the Team Aluminos squad returned to the Jim Russell International Karting Center in search of final victories. Closing out the 2009 PKC regular season, which has seen the Northern California based operation accumulate multiple race wins, podium finishes, as well as a class championship while competing in the PKC North and South series. At the North finale, six drivers flew the Aluminos colors with led by Aluminos driver coach Tom Dyer climbing back behind the wheel in preparation for the SKUSA SuperNationals in November.Dyer started off the weekend as the driver to beat, posting the quick lap during the timed qualifying session to earn the pole position by nearly four tenths of a second for the opening heat. Dyer’s run at the front was short lived as contact from behind in the initial lap of the first heat sent him off track and out of the contest unable to continue with a damaged kart. Excellent and quick repair work by the Aluminos team helped Dyer to pick up where he left off in qualifying as he had to start from the tail of the sixteen kart field in heat two as a result of the heat one DNF. Dyer, posting the fast lap of the race, carved his way forward to end up fifth in the eight lap stint. Starting fifth for the final, Dyer got a great jump at the drop of the green flag. Coming around for the first lap, Dyer found himself in the lead and pacing the field. Pressured by fellow GP driver and defending class champion Jason Toft, the two swapped the lead on several occasions until Dyer locked in the position on lap 17, edging out his opponent to the line by 0.177-seconds for his second victory of the season, while showing the way with the fastest lap of the race.
Since making the switch to the S3 category, New Zealander Daniel Bray has made the transition with ease, scoring the feature win in round six of the North program. Bray’s quick lap in the qualifying session put him fourth behind teammate Dyer, the series point leader, and Grand-Am driver Memo Gidley. Getting through the opening lap of the first heat clean, Bray took advantage of Dyer’s misfortune to assume the P1 position and take the win by over four seconds. Getting away from the line with no issues at the start of the second heat and again showing the back of his machine to the entire field Bray led all eight laps for another win. The final did not pan out as scripted for Bray after slotting in third in the first lap. Coming around to complete the second lap, Bray dropped two wheels of the edge of the track, spinning his machine resulting in the entire field passing by as he regrouped. Determined not to give up, Bray pushed hard as he posted lap times close to the leaders as he placed eighth when the checkered fell.The event began just off the pace for fellow S3 driver Steve Reasoner as his best time was slower than what was expected after qualifying, sitting sixth in the order. Reasoner, however, followed Bray to the front in the first heat, placing third, and then up one spot to second the following heat race as his lap times were quicker each time on track. Reasoner held onto the second spot in the early stages of the final before dropping back one position on lap six. He then began a race long battle with Gidley that ended with Reasoner just missing a podium position, crossing the stripe for the final time on the bumper of the third place kart.
The North finale was a tough outing for Brad Dunford as the 13th ranked driver in the eKartingNews.com Stock Moto Driver Rankings could just not find the right chassis set-up all day. Sitting ninth after qualifying, Dunford was able to move up to sixth in the first heat but fell back to ninth in the second stint. Slowly making his way forward, a spin on lap seven of the feature cost Dunford a solid finishing position, classified ninth after the 20-lap event. It was a tough ending for the promising young driver who has shown great speed and race craft throughout the ’09 North and South programs. Dunford is looking forward to the break in race schedule to capitalize on some specialized driver training in preparation for his return to Las Vegas for the 2009 SuperNationals looking to capitalize on his front running speed showed during last year’s event.Adding another podium finish for Team Aluminos was Fernando Diaz. The G1 driver began the weekend third in the order after qualifying, just eight-hundredths off the fast time in the session. A slip up in the opening lap of the first heat dropped Diaz back to fourth, where he would stay despite running the fast lap of the race. In the second heat, Diaz regained the third position - nearly recording the fast lap once again - to start inside row two of the final. In the feature, Diaz moved up to second and began a 20-lap battle to hold onto the battle. Running the fast lap of the race early on, Diaz looked to have the position locked until swapping the position numerous times with the newly crowned class champion. At the end, Diaz was edged out of the second position by just a few tenths at the line, settling for third - his third straight podium in the PKC North program.
Although he came into the race weekend with no mathematical chance for the S4 championship, Peter Workum was excited to secure second place in the PKC North S4 standings in his first year with Team Aluminos. Wrapping up the season in Sonoma, Workum earned his fifth podium of the season as he ran third all day at the finale.Workum and the other Team Aluminos drivers will now prepare for the upcoming SKUSA SuperNationals XIII in November at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Aluminos is currently taking any inquires for Arrive and Drive packages aboard Aluminos-prepared rides for all classes competing at this year’s event. Any interested parties wishing to learn more about this professional team are asked to contact Aluminos at 925.786.7865 or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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