Brendon Leitch has extended his lead in the 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe championship after two races at the latest round in Valencia. A last-lap pass for victory in Race 1 was backed up with a fourth-place finish in Race 2, extending his lead to 12.5 points with one round remaining.
“What a ripper,” commented Leitch. “It’s the first weekend I felt we had one of the quickest cars out there. We had good speed and felt super strong.
“This round, we took more risk with our setup in practice and it paid off. The changes were quite aggressive in the direction we thought we needed to go. The team have prepared a really good car for me which is both competitive and strong, so happy to get that round under the belt. We achieved the objectives we set before the weekend, that is, to extend our series lead and to get another win.”
Leitch qualified his Dayle ITM backed #86 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 on the front row for both 50-minute races and led the first race from the start only to fall behind the #61 Oregon Team car of Marzio Moretti and Sebastian Balthasar after the mandatory pit-stop window.
The positions then appeared to be set until Balthasar got baulked by backmarkers with just four corners remaining, giving Leitch the gap he needed to dive for the lead. Despite slight contact at the apex, Leitch had the high ground and seized the lead and the victory, fending off any riposte from Balthasar to emerge half a second clear at the finish.
Oregon Team’s Moretti and Balthasar were able to seal their second victory of the season in Race 2 at Valencia. A strong second stint from Moretti after the pit window closed moved the #61 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 onto the tail of race-leader Gilles Stadsbader (#6 VS Racing), with a mistake from the latter handing the victory Oregon’s way with two minutes remaining.
Leitch (#86 Leipert Motorsport) finished fourth, just off the podium, to consolidate his healthy points margin ahead of the penultimate round of the year at Vallelunga in November.
“It was disappointing to not finish on the podium in Race 2,” commented Leitch. “All in all, it was a good weekend in which we extended our series lead, so can’t really complain.”
The Vallelunga Circuit, Campagnano di Roma, Italy, hosts both the penultimate round 12–13 November 2023 and the final event taking place immediately after, 16-17 November, before the World Finals 18-19 November.
The World Finals sees competitors from Super Trofeo America and Super Trofeo Asia, including New Zealand’s Chris van der Drift and Marco Giltrap, join forces for a winner-take-all title round.
Words and Images: Supplied
