Robyn Edie
Race car driver Brendon Leitch back at his old stomping ground, Teretonga Park Invercargill, on Wednesday during a short break back in New Zealand from racing cars in Europe.
Almost daily Brendon Leitch reflects on just where his motor racing adventure has taken him.
Leitch’s journey started out racing karts in Invercargill before he moved on to the Teretonga Park track where he emerged as one of New Zealand’s more promising drivers.
The now 26-year-old is back in Invercargill on a brief break from his duties racing cars professionally overseas.
Leitch now bases himself in Germany, close to the Leipert Motorsport team which he races for.
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The Southlander is a junior factory driver for Lamborghini, taking part in the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup and Super Trofeo Europe series.
“It’s definitely a long way from humble beginnings from here in Invers,” Leitch reflects.
“I think about it every day, and the opportunity I’ve been given to do what I do overseas is pretty bloody amazing. I do work hard for it, but it hasn’t been without its helpers along the way,” Leitch said.
“It is so easy to give up, but hard work does pay off. People say to you; ‘Is it the best option to keep going?’ It is what I want to do, and I want to see where it leads me.”
As a youngster progressing through the New Zealand motorsport ranks Leitch wanted to one day race IndyCars in the United States.
While that hasn’t eventuated, Leitch was more than happy with the path he has now taken.
“To get to [IndyCar] every single piece of the puzzle has to come together at the same time, otherwise you end up exactly where I’m trying to go to anyway.
“So I just wanted to shortcut all of the chaos and go directly to where I want to end up in GT cars, and working with a manufacturer. The end goal is to be with a manufacturer to support them and use all of my mechanical knowledge to help them.”
Leitch joined Lamborghini as a factory driver in early 2019 and has built a good relationship.
All going to plan Leitch will continue to be based overseas for years to come. With the world starting to re-open as Covid-19 restrictions ease it would make commuting back to New Zealand much easier, he said.
“I’ve just got myself a tiny little apartment [in Germany] and it’s exactly what I need to have a base there.”
Leitch will head back to Europe in May for the second round of GT World Challenge Endurance Cup and Super Trofeo Europe series racing to be held in France on June 3, 4, 5.
In the first round in Italy, after qualifying on pole Leitch’s team finished 16th overall, when the safety car “didn’t fall our way”.
In the GT racing the team had an electrical issue 50 minutes in before teammate Jordan Witt was “taken out” in a crash just before the two-hour mark.
