Brendon Leitch and his Leipert Motorsport team are in celebration mode after first finishing second in the penultimate round and then winning the final round of the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series held in Abu Dhabi.
Their Race 2 victory, however, was overturned post-race for a driving time infringement, which left them seventh.
Having struggled in the first three rounds, Leitch and his teammates, top AM (Amateur) driver Gabriel Rindone and Lamborghini factory driver Marco Mapelli, brought their factory-supported Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 home for a top result in the GT category at the Yas Marina Circuit.
“Really happy,” said Leitch. “The car was really good all weekend. We had great team strategy, we kept it clean, and it all came together for a great result.”
Optimism was high for Leitch heading to Abu Dhabi, knowing that their car suited his favourite track. The result comes on top of a difficult start to the series.
Fifth place in a rain-interrupted first round at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was unfortunately followed by a retirement out of the final four-hour race at the circuit.
The single round at the Dubai Autodrome Circuit in the UAE, last weekend, saw the team retire early after their Lamborghini got caught up in an opening lap incident.
“Qualifying wasn’t the best as a red flag messed it up for us,” said Leitch. “Gabbie (Rindone) did the best job given the circumstances and started from 12th in the first race and ninth for the second.
“In both races, he was quicker than those around him and was able to make light work of getting past those in front. He was super strong and returned the car in a great position for me to take over.
“That made it straight forward for me as I was able to push and hold position handing over to Marco (Mapelli). In his stint, he was the strongest driver out there and had good opportunities to get through and finish second.
“Sunday’s race went really well even though our pace maybe wasn’t quite as good. Gabbie, again, did a great job and had us in a good position overall. When I got in, I was straight into a fight with the top five cars. Having got passed three of them I eventually caught the top two but didn’t have quite enough speed to get through.
“It was a matter of staying cool and waiting. Unfortunately for them, both got a drive through (penalty) for not stopping at a red light when leaving the pits.
“From there, I was on my own and able to punch out some good laps, handing it over to Marco in P1, who held the position until the end. It’s a fantastic result.
“I think in Sepang we had decent speed but didn’t show our potential. Dubai was unfortunate with the opening lap incident and here in Abu Dhabi we knew we were strong and had a good one.”
Leitch and the team now head back to Europe for late-winter testing in preparation for the Northern Hemisphere racing season
