Alan Rudolph USA DD2 Masters National Champion
Tweetpress release
With the Florida Winter Tour Rotax championship and Team USA berth already to his name, veteran karter Alan Rudolph returned back to the seat of his PSL Atlantic prepared CRG for his assault on the United States Rotax Grand Nationals. Taking place at the Jet Karting of Michiana Raceway Park facility in South Bend, Indiana, Rudolph was the class of the field as he went on to score an almost perfect weekend of competition. Standing atop the blocks when the event concluded, Rudolph solidified his Team USA member status and will now provide team leadership when they head overseas in December.
Above: Alan Rudolph was the dominant driver in Rotax DD2 Masters and went on to score the national championship (pic - Cody Schindel/CanadianKartingNews.com)
"I wanted to come here and prove that my spot on Team USA was deserved," expressed Alan Rudolph. "My goal was to be able to turn times the same and if not better than the DD2 drivers and I feel that I was closer to them than in the past. I am looking forward to heading overseas and am confident that I can challenge for the Rotax DD2 Masters World Championship."
Taking to the track for the unofficial test days leading up to the event, Alan Rudolph showed the speed needed to run at the front of the field. Often turning times comparable to the younger and lighter Rotax DD2 competitors, the Arizona resident, Vice President and General Manager of the Bondurant SuperKart School, and PSL Atlantic driver was confident heading into official qualifying on Thursday morning.
With weather threatening the area, the DD2 Masters drivers would hit the track with dry tires for their qualifying efforts. Utilizing his experience and natural skills, Rudolph took to the track and dominated the qualifying session. Taking the pole position by nearly half a second, the multi-time champion would start each of his three heat races from inside the front row.
"Alan drove fantastic this weekend," expressed PSL Atlantic's Mike Dobbelsteyn. "He is no slouch behind the wheel and he makes our jobs in the pits a lot easier. We are happy that he is part of the PSL family and will give him our best efforts in Portugal as he tries to secure the United States' their first Rotax Grand Finals championship."
With rain moving into the area on Thursday afternoon and throughout the day on Friday, Rudolph would need to show his wet weather skills to stay ahead of the hungry DD2 Masters drivers. Driving flawlessly, Rudolph went on to take the victory in all three heat races and would begin Championship Saturday from the pole position in the prefinal.
With weather changing throughout the day, it looked as if the field would take to the track for Saturday morning's prefinal under wet conditions but several drivers switched to slick tires right before their departure from the grid. With a damp track and more rain on the radar, Rudolph made the decision to stay on the grooved wet weather Mojos in the hopes of more rain coming into the area.
"Our prefinal tire choice was definitely not the right one," explained Rudolph "I was able to set a good pace early but the tires did not last the entire race. I fell back to the eighth position and now will start the main event outside row four."
Determined to get back to the front of the field, Rudolph would quickly get by a few competitors during the opening laps of Saturday afternoon's main event. Biding his time and staying out of trouble, the Team USA captain took the point just past the half way mark and never looked back. Scoring the fastest lap of the race, Rudolph went on to secure the victory by a staggering 8.702 seconds to secure the title of Rotax DD2 Masters National Champion.
Alan Rudolph would like to thank PSL Atlantic and Mike Dobbelsteyn for all of their hard work and continued support. Without them, the winning season would not have happened. Also, Rudolph would like to thank PSL Karting, and Bob Bondurant for his continued support in my racing endeavors.