4 Hours of Sepang race winner Daniel Serra is looking to get back to winning ways this weekend to finish his first season in the Asian Le Mans Series on a high note.
The driver from Sao Paolo took the chequered flag in Sepang to start the season with 25 points but the luck has not the way of the no57 Car Guy Ferrari 296 GT3 since then.
Serra, who is a two time 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro winner with Aston Martin in 2017 and Ferrari in 2019, knows that the competition will be fierce with a huge entry of 30 cars for the final two races of the 2024/25 season at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
However, the distinctive livery of the no57 Car Guy Ferrari, run by Kessel Racing, will undoubtably be at the sharp end of the GT battle this weekend with Takeshi Kimura and Casper Stevenson sharing the driving duties with the Platinum graded Brazilian driver.
Q: How would you sum up the season so far and are there any positives to take away from Dubai?
Daniel Serra: “First of all, it’s nice to do the Asian Le Mans Series for the first time. All of the tracks are new for me, Sepang, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We had a strong start in race one but, unfortunately, it hasn’t gone so well since. I think the pace, and everything is there but we’ve had a bit of bad luck let’s say. Let’s see if we can put everything together here in Abu Dhabi and be fighting for the podium again.”
Q: Takeshi Kimura missed the first two races in Sepang when he was attending his daughter’s wedding. Was he immediately on the pace when he got back in the car in Dubai?
DS: “Kimura San is very committed, he is always trying to improve, checking the data and the onboard footage. This is something nice to see from him, he really is trying to improve and it’s very nice to work with him.
Q: Tell us what you think of the circuit here at Yas Marina and do you have a favourite corner?
DS: “Firstly, the track is very impressive, the facilities, the grandstands, the hotel in the middle and everything. I will have to drive a bit to see but Turns 1-2-3 should be fun and very nice to do in the 296, corner nine as well. Let’s see as I need to learn the track a bit first though.”
Q: The GT field here in ALMS is large with some great teams and drivers. How are you and the team finding the competition in the ALMS this season?
DS: “This grid is probably the hardest one. Here and the European series you have the same guys fighting for the podium but here if you have a problem instead of falling to p12 or p13 you fall to P20 something, so it makes it a lot more difficult to come back.
“I think this series is so hard, we are not using this to prepare for the European series, we here to win and fight for the podiums. The competition here is hard but very nice.”
