New Zealand has produced only a small number of world motor racing champions in various classes over the years, and of that number, Southland can count one.
That driver, Brendon Leitch, is returning to his roots to race a Lamborghini Huracan EVO 1 in Round 2 of the South Island Endurance Series at Teretonga Park in Invercargill on Saturday, 4 October.
Leitch is the current Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Pro-Am Champion, taking the title with American driver Anthony McIntosh at the Jerez circuit in Spain last November. Therefore, he lines up at Teretonga Park next weekend as a reigning World Champion.
It all started for Leitch here in Southland, where he raced karts before graduating into cars, where his career has been marked by success. He was third in the 2012 NZ Formula Ford Championship and second a year later before graduating into, as it was then, TRS.
He scored numerous race wins against international competitors who came to New Zealand for that series over the next few seasons, with one of the most memorable victories coming at Teretonga Park when he won the Spirit Of A Nation Cup in 2015. The following year, he was second in the race behind current F1 star Lando Norris.
Leitch’s international journey commenced soon after. In 2017, he finished fourth in the US F4 Championship, and a year later, he achieved the same placing in the F3 Asian Championship.
During this time, Brendon was also racing with success in both the North and South Island Endurance Series.
In 2019, Brendon raced for Leipert Motorsport in both Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia, where he finished second, and in the World Final at Jerez, where he was fifth.
After a brief interruption due to the pandemic, he resumed his international career in 2021 and since then has experienced success in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia competing for well-known teams such as Leipert Motorsport, Wayne Taylor Racing, Earl Bamber Racing and MDK Racing at circuits such as Spa, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen, Sepang, Paul Ricard, Monza, Le Mans, Shanghai, Suzuka, Fuji, the Nurburgring and Bathurst in exciting cars such as Lamborghini’s, Audi’s, Porsche’s, Aston Martin’s, Mercedes and BMW’s.
In 2023, he won a race in the Asian Le Mans series and secured another podium finish there as well. This year, in February, he tested a current Supercar at Sydney Motorsport Park with Matt Stone Racing on the official test day of the Australian Supercars Championship.
In short, he has become a hugely successful and highly sought-after driver around the globe.
There have been many successes and highlights – he won the 2021 World Pro Championship at Sebring in the USA, the 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe title, also finishing third in the world title race that year at the Vallelunga Circuit in Campagnano di Roma in Italy and then the pinnacle, the 2024 Lamborghini World Super Trofeo Championship.
Another highlight was that in his first race at the daunting Bathurst circuit in Australia, he qualified on pole for one of the races before going on to the podium in the race.
More recently, Leitch and McIntosh teamed up again, driving a BMW M4 GT3 EVO for the Ceccato Racing Team in the Gran Turismo Endurance Championship at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari Imola circuit in Italy, where they won the AM Class and finished second overall in the race, first time out.
And with that pedigree of international success, Brendon Leitch will line up at Teretonga Park on Saturday, 4 October, a wonderful chance to see Southland’s first, and at this stage, only World Champion in action.
Header Image: Dave Loudon
