Jaxon Evans and Brendon Leitch have had a weekend full of silverware in the second round of GT World Challenge in Indonesia, with Evans taking a class win and a podium, and Leitch bringing home a class podium for his efforts.
Race 1
The first of the one-hour endurance races started off with both Evans and Leitchs’ teammates starting in the car, with Andras Pato sitting fourth in class and ninth overall with JJ Song down in nineteenth overall after five minutes of running.
The first full-course yellow came out after fifteen minutes of racing, with the #10 BMW of Lee left with a front puncture, and the #18 Porsche flying into the gravel after heavy contact around a fast left hand sweeper. A safety car was eventually called, and it took a significant amount of time to get the race restarted.
On the restart, Pato had moved up to eighth overall and third in class, while Song stayed down in seventeenth, benefiting from the two retirements from the earlier safety car. The pit window sooned opened, allowing Evans and Leitch to jump in the car.
Evans emerged from the lane second in class and fifth overall, with Leitch fifth in class and thirteenth overall.
Contact between two leading cars allowed Evans to sneak into third on track, which soon became second place as another driver moved into the lane. With fifteen minutes to go, Evans soon was under pressure from Sean Gelael. However, the experienced Kiwi was able to hold off to seal a Pro-Am victory, finishing behind his Audi teammates.
Leitch crossed the line ninth overall, but sealed a Pro-Am class podium for his efforts, coming home as the third driver in class.
Race 2
Following on from both Kiwis finding success in Race 1 of the weekend, both drivers had every reason to be optimistic heading into Race 2.
Both Kiwis were the elected starting driver for their cars, with Evans starting in second and Leitch in fourth.
Once racing started, it did not take long for chaos to unfold, with a very late move not paying off for home racer Gelael, leaving him beached after only five minutes of racing and out of the race.
Gelael’s incident brought out the safety car, and racing resumed with fourty-five minutes to go.
On the restart, Evans held second in class and second overall, with Leitch slightly further back in fifth. However, he had no drama climbing up to fourth, making it a Pro-Am top 5.
Evans was able to hold close to the #37 Porsche in front, trailing by just under two seconds before the pit window opened. Evans and Leitch both cycled into the lane with just under half of the race remaining, with both drivers putting in a good stint and leaving their co-drivers in a solid position for the end of the race,
Evans’ teammate Pato emerged out of the lane in fifth, while Leitch’s teammate Song emerged in ninth. Pato clawed his way up the field, putting in a great performance to finish third, bringing home another class and an overall podium for Evans. This can be classed as a great result, considering the success penalty they incurred from their strong result in Race 1.
Leitch’s teammate Song was unable to keep the pace of the front runners, falling down the pack to finish twelfth overall and seventh in class.
Evans and Pato now sit fourth in the Pro-Am standings, with Leitch and Song in seventh place.
Evans and Leitch will now have a short break until the next round of GT World Challenge Asia, which takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit, starting on the 4th of June.
Header Image: GT World Challenge Asia
