Top Ten Result For Sera's Circuit Debut
press release
Leading Australian Karter David Sera recently turned his karting exploits into a circuit race, when he debuted aboard an Aussie Racing Car at Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla, Victoria which was held in conjunction with the fifth event in the 2011 V8 Supercar Championship held on the 21st & 22nd of May 2011.
The 11-time Australian Karting Champion got his first taste behind the wheel of his Monster Energy backed car on the Friday morning of the event.
Above: Deadly Dave in the Monster car at Winton
Having driven a gearbox kart for the last year, Sera adapted quickly to the sequential gearbox that the Aussie Racing Cars are accustomed to. With only one practice session being scheduled, Sera only managed to turn eight laps prior to qualifying.
Sera took to the 20 minute qualifying session with no expectations and slowly improved throughout the session to post the 16th fastest time from the 38 competitors.
Saturday was an action packed day for the Aussie Racing Cars with a second qualifying session and two races. With new tyres fitted to the Monster Energy Aussie Racing Car, Sera posted the 14th fastest time of the session in qualifying two.
The Melbournian lined up on the outside of the eighth row after times were merged from both qualifying runs, and having never practiced a standing start in the car, Sera made a slow start in the run to turn one and lost a couple of positions. Continuing to adapt to the characteristics of the car, Sera made some impressive passes on his competitors to finish the race in 17th place.
Race two panned out a lot smoother for Sera, as he worked his way to 13th at the completion of the race, after being as high as 11th.
“Wow, what an exciting day! I didn’t get off the line very well in my two races, but with more experience, I am sure that won’t be an issue. My first safety car experience was interesting, having a restart similar to Indy and NASCAR where we go two abreast to the green flag,” said Sera.
As Sunday morning’s race dawned onto the competitors, rain struck quickly as the cars were on the formation grid soaking half the circuit with the other half dry. It was too late for teams to make changes for the difficult conditions, leaving drivers to battle the slippery race track.
Sera started from position 13, and with drivers spearing off the circuit at the beginning of the race, the safety car was deployed to clear the track at turns one and two. At the restart Sera was battling for positions around the top ten, but not having the confidence of some of his more experienced rivals, he fell back to 15th at the end of the race.
Black clouds loomed over Winton Raceway at the completion of the final V8 Supercar race and a torrential downpour descended onto the circuit. Teams were frantically making adjustments to their cars for the wet conditions, and having no real race car experience in the wet; Sera didn’t set himself very high expectations, rather just looking to bring the car back in one piece.
With all points counting from the first three races to determine Sunday’s final race starting position, Sera would take to the grid in 14th. Visibility was a major issue for all drivers, and with most electing to take a safe start to turn one, Sera adopted a more aggressive approach to pass a couple of cars around the outside. Having gained a lot of confidence as the weekend progressed, Sera drove a superb race to pass a number of drivers at the beginning, and when the race was called off at half race distance, Sera found himself in fifth position, right on the rear bumper of third and fourth. Sera ended the weekend eighth overall in points, after his fast finishing fifth helped him leap up in the standings.
“It was quite tough jumping into the car for the first time on Friday morning, but it is pleasing to have improved with every race. The last race in the rain was very difficult, but I tried to push really hard as I could see other drivers taking a safer approach and it paid dividends with my fifth place finish. I’m stoked with how the weekend unfolded, and a top ten for the round is a great achievement. I now have a platform to move forward to the next round with,” said an excited Sera.
Sera’s next event will be the third round of the CIK Stars of Karting Series to be held in Port Melbourne on June 18/19 where he will be competing in the highly competitive Pro Gearbox category.
David Sera would like to thank everyone at Monster Energy Drinks, Orrcon Steel, Shamick Racing, Bell Helmets and Phil Ward for their efforts in making his Aussie Racing Car debut possible. For more information about David Sera please visit www.davidsera.com
