SPOTLIGHT: David Sera, Sera Driver Development

Eighteen-time Australian Karting Championship winner David Sera has garnered a reputation in recent years for his driver training ability.

Australia’s leading kart racer established Sera Driver Development in 2011, with a vision to helping the next generation of racing drivers.

The core purpose of his programme is to fine-tune each driver’s skill set, with Sera able to assist drivers with everything from corner entry to throttle and brake modulation and overtaking, how to get the best jump off the start of a race as well as avoid on-track incidents.

“I can coach drivers at all levels, so if you’re a beginner or if you’re more experienced looking to fine-tune your skill set, I can help you out,” Sera said.

“We can also coach drivers at their local tracks.”

As part of his operation, Sera also runs a race team that competes at national level.

“Our race team competes at the Australian Karting Championship and we’ve grown from a smaller team of between six and eight drivers to this year having 18 drivers,” he added.

“Drivers that are part of our coaching programme have the opportunity to join our race team, once they become a little more experienced.”

An experienced coach, his driver training business comes off the back of his 25 years in go-karting, which has seen him enjoy success at state, national and international level with 56 state titles, 18 national titles, as well as a second-place finish at the Rotax World Finals in 2011.

While previously working in real estate to support his own motorsport ventures, Sera saw an opportunity to create a business where he would enjoy the work.

“When I started the coaching business, it was more just as a side hustle, literally just going to help people and from the enjoyment I was getting out of it, I thought actually I could make a business doing something I actually really enjoy,” Sera said.

“From racing for so many years, you have good and bad experiences, so I really get a good sense of enjoyment out of seeing other drivers doing well that I’ve coached.

“The kart racing scene has been really good for me.”

His business has gone onto enjoy immense success, with Sera partnering with leading Supercars outfit Erebus Motorsport in 2019 to provide drivers a pathway through the motorsport ladder and be nurtured by experts in their chosen field through the team’s academy.

“The Erebus Academy facilitated a couple of test drives for our junior drivers at the Norwell Motorplex with Paul Morris, so it was a good opportunity for kart racing drivers to get their first taste of a car,” he added.

“It has been great to work with Erebus to assist the next generation of drivers come through the ranks.”

Over the years, Sera has gone onto coach the likes of Supercars driver Anton De Pasquale, as well as current Super2 Series driver Kai Allen, while Walkinshaw Andretti United driver Nick Percat currently races for and mentors drivers competing for Sera’s team in the Australian Karting Championship.

“It’s amazing to have worked with the calibre of these drivers over the years and to have Nick [Percat] join us at the race track and helping these kids is great, because they can see him racing on television one week and the next weekend he is driving the kart and helping them at the track,” Sera concluded.

In addition to his business, Sera has started his own podcast called Swapping Paint where he chats to motor racing drivers in all Formula 1, Indy Car, Supercars, Rallycross to find out about their journey in motorsport, while last year he launched an online programme for karters and mechanics called Kart Class, a resource that provides access to diagrams, video content, and worksheets, and is accessible on most electronic devices.

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