Brendon Leitch and Winhere Harmony Racing co-driver Jiajun Song enjoyed their first GT World Challenge Asia podium in just their third race together.
Sharing their eye-catching iridescent Ferrari 296 GT3, Leitch and Song combined to finish third in the Pro-Am class on Saturday at Indonesia’s picturesque Mandalika International Circuit, which plays host to MotoGP annually.
Song started the first race and lost little time to the leaders before a conveniently-timed Safety Car intervention bunched the field up. When Leitch was handed the reins, he benefited from the misfortune of two drivers ahead of him before making his way to fourth in class.
A post-race penalty for the provisional third finisher allowed Leitch and Song to score ninth in the race overall and take the final step on the Pro-Am class podium.
The second race of the weekend was a more challenging affair. Leitch started the 60-minute race from fourth and tried a bold move around the outside at the first turn before settling into fifth position and vying for a class podium.
After they were assisted by a Safety Car on Saturday, an early full-course caution period halted Leitch’s early opportunity to build a gap for his co-driver. Ultimately, the pair finished seventh in Pro-Am and 12th overall.
Despite the day-to-day results dip, there was a lot of optimism in the Harmony Racing camp as Leitch and Song continue to learn their Ferrari 296 GT3 and make significant strides.
“Saturday’s race was mint. JJ started, and we got quite fortunate with the Safety Car not long before the pit window opened,” Leitch explained.
“That bunched the pack up again and put us right in the fight. We had a nice, clean pit stop and came out right in the mix between all the front-running guys.
“The car set-up was good, but it was pretty tough to make much more headway from there in the dirty air, so it was then more or less line-astern once we got through a few of the Am cars and Silver-Am cars that were in front.
“We’re still finding a lot of time with the car, which is pretty evident between round one at Sepang and round two at Mandalika. We’re finding lots of different set-ups and things are making a big difference, so we’re not lightyears off the pace.
“Sunday’s race was tough after the high of Saturday. I had a go around the outside at the first turn and lost the rear of the car. I couldn’t hang onto it and had to run a bit wide and kicked up a few stones. If I didn’t do that, I was going to be stuck in fourth or fifth anyway, so no great loss.
“It was another good opportunity for JJ to be right in the thick of it, and he will only get better with more seat time and going wheel-to-wheel with these guys.”
Leitch wasted little time, flying from Indonesia to Australia on Sunday for his next race in GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS at The Bend Motorsport Park.
The New Zealander will be reunited with his Australian co-driver Sergio Pires at Tigani Motorsport in their Geyer Valmont Racing Mercedes-AMG.
The next round of GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS takes place on May 8-10.
Leitch will resume his GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS program at Shanghai International Circuit on June 4-6.
Header Image: Supplied
