CKN Chatter: Peter Serravalle of Pserra Racing

Name: Peter Serravalle
Hometown: Unionville, Ontario
Years in the sport: Over 20 Years
Industry Position: Team Owner, Engine Builder and Driver Development of Pserra Racing

How did you get involved in the industry?
Well racing in general was a big part of my childhood. My family raced cars, bikes and karts for many years. My passion is engine building. It could be 60cc 2-strokes to 1600 hp twin turbo, the world’s fastest street machines. The passion is so deep now that when I take on a project to build I always want to know who’s the best guy building those engines and who’s got the record and I set my standards very high so I can compete against them.

What are the plans for your race team for 2013?
I’m very happy with our team overall wherever we go to race we are running up front. In 2013 We are going to support our customers at most races. We will be traveling to Coupe de Quebec and ECKC and events world-wide.

How would describe your race team:
Intense racing. We only want to be the best.

How are things going with TonyKart and the OTK product line?
I’ve worked with lots of different manufacturers and Tonykart and the OTK are absolutely amazing. They are a first class manufacturer. Our relationship is going in the right direction and they really are based upon performance and results, as you can see at Florida Winter Tour and Rotax Euro Challenge show. This product is at its own level (upfront) and the drivers just love the chassis .We are in contact with factory in Italy on a regular basis and we have plans to make a 4-cycle chassis for the market.

TonyKart is the only way to go. Why would anybody race anything else right now? When I go to a race I want to win and at least I know the chassis is not going to hold me back from that win. I’m speaking as a parent now and I strongly advise my clients that way. We as parents want to have our kids using the right equipment in order to win.

How is your dealer network going? Are you searching for new dealers at this time?
Our dealer network is growing as we have five dealers set up across the country and we are looking for new dealers and trying to set up a dealer in the Quebec area. We are in support of all TonyKart clients and shipping to Quebec is only one-day away and we will be supporting the big races there with our mobile support .

Our goal is to give every racer across Canada an opportunity to a winning Green Tonykart Chassis and find the support needed.

Your Pserra Engines are always quick, anything you would like to note about them?
The biggest passion for me is in this department. From the early days from when I was building engines for Yamaha moto 500 and the level of passion just keeps going up. We are ranked in top-5 engine builders in the world. Our track record proves that at the last FWT and this has got to say something to people. We were standing in tech with engine builders that were flown in from Europe and our engines standing on the top spot. Our engines are being used worldwide and we are shipping to Europe for customers running Rotax Euro Series and Rotax Max Challenge races and the results are there. We keep expanding our equipment and tooling.

Do you have anybody helping you build engines now?
No I build all my engines myself. We have employees in the shop that will help with cleaning and prep work.

How does your team look like this Year?
It looks good we have drivers in all classes that can win and we have great tuners from here and Europe to help with chassis setup for the big races.

What is your current perspective on Canadian Karting and how do you think we could improve it?
This is a touchy subject but I will state my opinion. Canadian karting is suffering a lot in more than one area. We don’t have any new beginners in the rookie classes which is not good for the future.

I think we need to go back to our roots of racing karts and classes. We need 4-cycle karting, we need an affordable 2-cycle cadet class, and we need to race the classes that are the stepping stones for future in auto racing like in Europe. I think pro level karting is for the elite people and it is expensive but the chance of moving up the ladder with our current racing series is very diffucult. I think we should be racing the same classes in europe like KF Junior, KF2, and KZ2. Lets face it the drivers that are racing F1 today used those classes to move up and to be recognized.

I’ve traveled to Europe with my son Antonio last year and the level of racing is very high. The Italian championship that we participated in, gave us the opportunity to meet people from F1 teams roaming the pits and potential sponsors and its on live TV coverage. We need to move in that direction.

Where do you see the sport in five years?
I hope we will be in good standing and if we race here the way we race in Europe I think our country would step it up a notch in regards to talented drivers.

You have helped alot of talented drivers in the past what do you think of Canadian drivers in general?
I think that Canadians are very good drivers and with the right coaching and proper ladder we can competite in the world level.

When you look at karting from a fan/spectator point of view, what do you see?
Its a very addictive sport and Its a very expensive sport to get involved in at a pro level.

Is it better to bring people into the karting world, or bring the karting world to the people?
I think its better bringing the karting world to the people by more media coverage like TV, magazines and internet.

If there is someone from another generation you could witness in their karting years, who would it be and why?
Mike Wilson. I think he raced when karting was pure and when there was a high level of talent and he won multiple championships.

What is your favourite thing about karting?
Competition and Winning.

What is your most memorable event as part of the karting industry? (Team or driver victory, event or award, etc)
Winning the Italian Championship in Siena last year and sitting on the pole-position at the SKUSA SuperNationals in Vegas with Antonio last year.

Finally, anything you would like to conclude our chat today with?
I would like to thank you Cody for your continuing support for the Canadian karters out there. This is much appreciated.

Thank you Peter.

For more information about Pserra Racing, visit their website http://pserraracing.com