Leipert Motorsport- featuring Kiwi Brendon Leitch- have finished third in the first of two 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi races at Yas Marina Circuit overnight.
The Lamborghini Huracan GT3, shared by Leitch, Gabriel Rindone and Lamborghini factory driver Marco Mapelli qualified 12th fastest in the GT class for the event to start from grid spot 36 come race time.
Rindone did well off the start, avoiding a number of Lap 1 collisions to survive the unfolding carnage.
A massive shunt for the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari in the first hour triggered a lengthy red flag period, over 40 minutes lost off the clock to allow officials to repair barriers after a nasty collision.
Thankfully Danish driver Johnny Laursen was able to walk away under his own power despite running into the armco barriers at speed.
Once things resumed Rindone went about his business, consistency and strategy proving key as he handed over to Leitch for the mid-stages.
Like Rindone, the Kiwi then went about putting some monster laps in and displaying some blistering pace to put the team in with a shout heading into the final stint.
Mapelli was handed the reigns with work still to be done and he didn’t disappoint, crossing the line third in GT, only behind class winners Haupt Racing Team (Mercedes AMG GT3) and Herberth Motorsport (Porsche 911 GT3 R).
The result comes off the back of two disappointing 4 Hours of Dubai races where the team only scored one point all weekend.
They now shoot up the leaderboard and into the top 10 with one race left to run tonight.
That race begins at 12.30am NZ time tonight and will be shown live online.
Header image: Leipert Motorsport
