As far as dream motorsport weekends go, Invercargill’s Brendon Leitch takes the cake for having the ultimate double drive duty today and tomorrow.
He will be driving a Huracan in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia as well as driving in the Formula 3 Asian Championship, for the second time this season, while making his debut at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan.
‘‘I don’t think it’s going to be easy but definitely more straight forward than the first time. Having some experience, it’s going to be awesome,’’ Leitch said.
An established circuit racer, this is his biggest career achievement and he has already scored a podium in the F3 series, placing third for his BlackArts Racing team at Chang International Circuit in Thailand last month.
At the end of May, Leitch announced he had been selected by the Lamborghini Squadra Corse for their Young Drivers Program. The only Kiwi and one of 13 drivers worldwide — all aged under 26 — he will race in the Asian championship, run by Leipert Motorsport.
The selected drivers will be assessed throughout the season and the most impressive of them, within Leitch’s program and also Lamborghini Squadra Corse’s GT3 Junior Program, will be invited to participate in a final selection shoot-out held from September 30 to October 2 at the Vallelunga Circuit in Italy. The selection panel will choose drivers from each program to receive official support from Lamborghini Squadra Corse for the 2020 season.
Leitch’s aims for this weekend are simple and involving finishing up-front.
‘‘I’d like to get a first in class and maybe even a sneaky pole,’’ he said of his preferred Lamborghini result.
Harnessing his knowledge gathered from the two previous F3 rounds, he is keen to ‘‘use that to start on the right foot and at the same level as the other cars’’.
‘‘I think we can split the front cars and, hopefully, a win would be good,’’ Leitch said.
- by Catherine Pattison
Photo: Supplied
