3-5-10 Fraser Continues podium Streak for Team Aluminos in Wet Conditions

Aluminos squad finds success at Willow Springs despite battling challenging weather conditions

Another successful weekend went into the books for Team Aluminos following the second round of the ProKart Challenge South program. Challenging weather conditions put the Aluminos squad to the test at the Willow Springs Raceway kart track in Rosamond. Following solid testing sessions in the previous weekend, the result saw five drivers in an Aluminos entry battle for victory three categories.

Scoring the best result for the squad was veteran Larry Fraser who came away from the wet and rainy weekend with a runner-up finish in TaG Senior. Fraser started out the day second in qualifying in what would be the wettest conditions of the day. Once the green flag waved on the race action, Fraser led seven of eight laps in the first heat race to take the win by a tight 0.123-margin. Heat two looked to be a repeat of the first until a lap two spin sent him off-track. Falling down the order, Fraser was able to climb back and finish fourth, setting the fastest laps of the race. A great opening circuit of the 20-lap feature race put Fraser to the point quickly and engaged in a strong battle with two competitors for the lead. Never having a chance to break away, Fraser fought hard throughout the main event to take the checkered flag in the second position.

The S4 category has become Team Aluminos' staple for success as drivers have come on-board with their Arrive and Driver program and achieved numerous personal goals. The three on hand at Willow Springs continued to climb their own personal ladders with stellar performances. Phil Dunford led the way as he narrowly missed topping the qualifying charts by less than a tenth of second, qualifying off-pole to the three-time SKUSA SuperNationals S4 winner. Dunford led in both heat races, eventually finishing second in both. In the feature, Dunford encountered a shifter lever issue, but overcame the nuisance to bring home a solid fourth place after losing a couple positions in the opening laps. Overall, it shows signals that the senior Dunford will be a consistent threat for the front of the S4 field throughout the 2010 season.

Also making his presence felt at the front was Arizonas Peter Workum. Qualifying fifth, Workum grabbed the hole shot at the start of the first heat, leading his first laps of the season in the S4 category. He eventually finished third in heat one and fourth in the second heat en route to a smart and well driven fifth place final result moving him up the championship standings. For Workum, it was a chance to improve on his wet racing skills in his first rain race in a shifter kart under the guidance of the experienced Aluminos staff. The same could be said for Jonathan Allen, who continues to gain vital experience and knowledge under the Aluminos tent. Though he retired early in the feature, Allen - also new to rain racing - continued to make strides throughout the day and showed excellent improvement in speed during Friday's dry practice sessions.

It's great when we leave a race weekend with our drivers happy with their performance, stated Aluminos team manager Rob Soares. Each driver has a different set of goals with myself, engine specialist George Tavares and all the driver coaches working hard to help them achieve that, whether its a win or just performing better than the previous weekend. We had a number of drivers come test with us last weekend here at Willow. Some were not able to compete this weekend, but those who did race were able to vastly improve from their testing pace a week ago.

The pre-race testing with the Aluminos squad was accepted well for S1 driver Brad Dunford as the extra laps prior to the PKC event at Willow helped the young driver adapt to the challenging circuit. Dunford started out the event third in qualifying. Following opening lap shuffling in the first heat, Dunford led early and battled for the lead until the checkered, settling for second and setting the races fastest lap. It was all Dunford in heat two as he went flag-to-flag for the heat win to start on the pole for the 20-lap feature race, again carding the fast lap honors. Showing the way early on, Dunford was relegated to fourth following lap five. As the race went on and tires going away, Dunford drove hard but was unable to make up the lost ground to the leaders, settling for fourth and keeping close in the points chase.

On the docket for Team Aluminos will be the second round of the ProKart Challenge North at the Infineon Karting Center in Sonoma, California on March 12-13. There is little rest for the busy squad as round three of the South series rolls into the Grange Motor Circuit March 26-27. Following those two events is will be a trip back home for the first round of the SKUSA Pro Moto Tour at the Infineon Karting Center April 16-18.