Hailing from Unionville, Ontario, Canada, 16-year-old Antonio Serravalle is another confirmed driver in the 2019 Road to Indy program. Piloting a Pserra Racing entry in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, Serravalle joins the series as part of a father and son team, in conjunction with Jay Howard’s Driver Development (JHDD) program.
“The PM-18 car is an amazing car. It’s fast, and I really enjoyed the whole program in 2018 as the series is top notch and very professional,” explained Serravalle. “2018 was a year of learning new tracks and absorbing all that I could from engineers and team members. The car was unexpectedly fast, but I took it all in stride and worked on gaining as much knowledge as possible. I’m very excited about joining the 2019 grid with Pserra Racing and Jay Howard Driver Development. I’ve raced with Pserra Racing all my life on and off, and together we have had a lot of success.”
Competing in a partial Indy Pro 2000 campaign in 2018, Serravalle made the jump from karts to cars, skipping the first rung of the Road to Indy ladder, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. As a top contender in the shifter kart ranks around the world, Serravalle garnered race wins and championships in Canada, the United States and in Europe, and is one of only a handful of North American drivers that have claimed victory at the highest level on the world karting scene. Having never competed in a formula car before the 2018 season, Serravalle managed to secure multiple top-ten finishes, including an impressive eighth place result during his first oval event in May.
Pserra Racing is owned by Peter Serravalle, father of the young Antonio, and he will manage the engine and transmission side of the program. Daniel Mitchell will oversee the engineering of Antonio at each and every event weekend, while Jay Howard and his operation will provide paddock space, coaching, and other team services.
Serravalle continued “Jay Howard is a great mentor and driving coach who will help steer me in the right direction. His development program is second to none, and Jay has had a lot of personal success in the Road to Indy program. Having come from the professional level of karting to a pro in the IndyCar Series, Jay knows what to teach the young drivers both on and off the track and uses his experience to provide knowledge for the future champions of the sport.”
“This is a big step for the team but I treat it like a corporate business, with a lot drive and passion on a personal level,” explained Peter Serravalle. “My motive has always been that if you put the right staff together and work hard, success will come. We have a great engineer in Daniel Mitchell, who I was very impressed with the first time I saw him at work. He is very in tune with the driver and main focus is to get the most accurate feedback possible. Our mechanics have a ton of passion to win and believe in the driver, which make things run very smooth. They have a wealth of experience and knowledge in the Tatuus chassis and thousands of hours of work experience collected in Europe and North America.”
“My goals are clear,” added Antonio. “I want to win races! I know I can be the best and I have a few things on my side including my age level of experience, my mechanical knowledge, and a great team. I have been racing since I was eight years old in North America and Europe against some of the best drivers in the world. I’m positive I can be a top contender in the 2019 Indy Pro Series as I work towards my goal.”
Antonio Serravalle and Pserra Racing would like to thank Tycoon Capital Limited, Scuderia Ferrari Club of Toronto, Cos Shore Inc. -Medi- Scan, Ferrari & Associates, and Camptech II Circuits for all of their support in the past, present and future.