Tough Weekend In The West For Deadly
press release
Leading Australian Karter David Sera recently ventured out to Cockburn International Raceway, in Western Australia for the 49th AKA Australian Karting Championships, held on the 22nd – 24th of April 2011.
The eleven-time Australian Champion raced in the prestigious Clubman Light category and also the 125cc Leopard Light class.
The weekend started for well for the factory Arrow driver, qualifying his kart on the outside of the front row in Clubman Light and third position in Leopard Light. With temperatures soaring in the West Coast, the undulating 1100m Cockburn circuit was continually prone to changing track conditions.
"‘There is a lot of dust and sand situated on the outskirts of the circuit and with drivers continually running wide, the track tends to be quite slippery" said Sera.
The Monster Energy backed driver started both pre finals from third position after finishing amongst the leaders throughout both heat races.
At the beginning of the Leopard Light final, Sera was pushed back to fourth place on the opening lap. Looking for a way to pass third position, Sera collected the driver’s rear end, and in the process dislodged his front nosecone, forcing him to the sidelines.
Things didn’t go much better in Clubman Light, with Sera settling in third spot for the opening few laps, before being passed into fifth position. From there on, the young Melbourne driver didn’t show the same speed as previous races, and was unable to challenge the leaders, ultimately finishing fifth.
As Sunday rolled around, Sera was optimistic about his chances of securing a good result. Having made some changes to both karts to find more speed, the morning’s warm-up was a confidence booster before the 15-lap main events.
Clubman Light was the first of Sera’s two finals, and after making a good start on the opening lap, the Arrow driver found his way into third spot, hot on the heels of the leading drivers. After dicing for positions, the leaders became tangled up, separating the leading four drivers from the chasing pack. Unfortunately, Sera dropped back to fifth spot, sporting some front end damage from the aforementioned mid-race incident. After having troubles steering the kart, Sera was left helpless as he conceded fifth spot on the last lap, finally finishing sixth. "Overall it was a disappointing result as I had shown enough speed throughout the week to be able to challenge for victory".
The Leopard Light final provided Sera with some consolation from the weekend as he charged his way from 25th on the grid to finish a very creditable fourth after having his nosecone dislodge in the pre-final.
"It was an up-and-down weekend that could have promised a lot more. I am pleased that we found more speed with the new X1-E chassis in Leopard, and how we charged through the field with the limited laps."
Sera’s next event will be the third round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series to be held in Port Melbourne on June 17/18 where he will be competing in the highly competitive KZ2 category.
David would like to thank everyone at Arrow Karts, Monster Energy Drinks, Kart Sport North America, ULV Race wear, Bell Helmets and Alpinestars for their continued support. For more information about David Sera please visit www.davidsera.com
