2024 European Le Mans Series LMGT3 Vice Champion Daniel Serra returns for the 2025 season with Kessel Racing and Takeshi Kimura in the distinctive Car Guy liveried no57 Ferrari 296 LMGT3.
Daniel Serra is the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE Pro winner with Aston Martin and three-time Stock Car Champion in his native Brazil.
The 41-year-old driver from Sao Paulo finished on the top step of the podium in Spa-Francorchamps and Mugello alongside teammates Takeshi Kimura and Esteban Masson, narrowly missing out on the LMGT3 title by just two points at the end of the final race in Portugal.
For the 2025 season Masson has joined the VDS Panis Racing team in LMP2 and his place in the no57 car is filled by 2018 British GT4 Vice Champion Ben Tuck.
We caught up with Daniel Serra in Abu Dhabi, where he was competing with Kessel Racing in the Asian Le Mans Series.Serra had taken one win in the highly competitive GT class, which consisted of 30 cars, taking the chequered flag in the opening race of the series in Sepang.
Q: You and Kimura San are racing together with Kessel Racing again. You will be joined by Ben Tuck, who raced in the sister car in the Asian Le Mans Series. How well do you know Ben?
Daniel Serra:“I met Ben a few times last year, but we got to know each other more after sharing the garage in the Asian Le Mans Series. I think it’s going to be nice to share the car with him. I think it's a good lineup for European Le Mans Series, and I'm looking forward to work with him.”
Q: Do you think the consistency, having the same team, the same drivers around you, is going to help you when you go to the first race in Barcelona?
DS: “It's always good to keep the same team, if it's working, it's always good.We know each other very well and the communication is just getting easier every time we work together. So, yes, I think it's an advantage.”
Q: The ELMS will return to Silverstone for the first time since 2019 and you've raced there with Aston Martin Racing. What are your thoughts on Silverstone, and is it a good fit with the ELMS?
DS: “I raced in Silverstone once or twice. I remember it was a very nice track, but it's been almost eight years since I drove there, so I'm looking forward to going back. I, as you said, we have Ben who probably knows the track very well as it’s his home race. It should be nice to go back there.”
Q: Looking at the calendar as a whole, there are five tracks you raced on last year. Have you got a favourite?
DS: It's difficult to choose one. I would say that I like Imola and Spa, which are old school. I think the flow of the track and being more old school, with grass, not tarmac, on the outside. If you do track limits, it’s a proper one. You go on the grass, and you lose time. So, I like these kind of tracks.”
