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Sera & Wall Chase Title Number 13 This Weekend


AKA media 28 March 2013
 

Victorians David Sera and Matthew Wall are both considered two of the icons of Australian karting in the modern era. At this weekend’s 51st Australian National Sprint Kart Championships, the pair will both be chasing their 13th National crown.

The pair will go head-to-head in the highly competitive Clubman Heavy category in the event being held for the first time at the Monarto Karting Complex, just outside of Murray Bridge in South Australia.

david sera matthew wall aka nationals monarto 2013
above: David Sera (left) and Matthew Wall are chasing their 13th green plate this weekend
pic - AF Images/Budd

Should one of them be victorious in the category, or the 125cc Leopard Light (Sera) or 125cc Leopard Heavy (Wall) categories where they are also competing, they will move to second outright on the all-time winners list in Australian karting – which is headed by John Pizarro with 15 National Championships.

Sera enters the weekend high in confidence having enjoyed success at the recent Victorian Championships in the Clubman Heavy category.

“It is an honour to be considered up there alongside the likes of John Pizarro, Peter Ward (12 titles) and Mark Winterbottom (10 titles). Mark was the only one that I saw race but they are all icons of our sport and absolute legends of the era when they won their titles,” said Sera.

“I’m just treating it like another event, for sure it would be great to get another national championship but I’m not approaching it any differently to what I would any other championship. To win 13 titles would be a huge achievement and if I was able to win both categories and move onto 14 in the one weekend it would be even better.

“There is an enormous amount of talent in the Clubman Heavy field, it’s going to be extremely tough. Not only have you got Wall-e (Matt Wall) but there’s also guys like Kip Foster from WA who is always strong at the Nationals and a number of other guys who will be very tough to beat.”

For Wall, who claimed his first Australian Championship in Gladstone at the 1997 event, this year’s title race is very open in both the Clubman and Leopard categories.

“Just because I’ve got the number one (reigning champion) on my kart in Clubman, it doesn’t mean that I’ve got any sort of advantage. It probably makes it harder when you look at it all,” said Wall.

“Honestly, I’m going into the weekend with no real expectations. There are a lot of guys who are right on top of their game and judging by the recent Victorian Championships, it’s going to be very tough. It would be absolutely awesome, but realistically I’m not going in expecting it.

“The Leopard Heavy class is the one that I really want to win. I’ve been trying to win it for the past three years now and with the guys who have won the last three national titles in the field beating them would be something I’d dearly love to do.

“As for the statistics, I think they will mean more to me in 15 years time when I look back at what I was able to achieve in the sport; right now I’m just focusing on trying to be as fast as I can every time I take to the circuit.”
Sera will take to the Monarto circuit for the first time today, while Wall completed his first laps of the 1040-metre circuit during practice yesterday.

“This is my first time at Monarto and I must say that I’m very impressed with the whole facility. The track doesn’t look that challenging but once you get out there it’s pretty tough,” said Wall.

“I think it’s going to be a very competitive weekend, and like most nationals, whoever wins will certainly deserve it. Given the layout, it will be very tough to make a break from your opposition and the winner will have to be very smart about when to make the right moves.”

A total of 227 entries have been received across nine categories for the 51st running of the Australian National Sprint Kart Championships this weekend.

It is the first time Australia’s most prestigious stand-alone karting event has been held at the five year-old Monarto Karting Complex. It is also the first time it has been contested in South Australia since the Southern Go Kart Club hosted the 2006 event at the Bolivar Raceway, where Murray Bridge’s Mason Merritt was victorious in the Clubman Light category.

This year marks 25 years since South Australian V8 Supercar star Russell Ingall won his last of four national karting championships, when he was victorious in the International Light category at the Bolivar Raceway in the 1988 event.

Practice will continue today ahead of qualifying tomorrow morning. Heat races will be contested on Friday afternoon and Saturday with the championship finals to be held on Sunday.

The Monarto Karting Complex is located at 3711 Old Princess Highway, approximately 1km past the Monarto Zoo.

 

 

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