Leitch to make racing return

After missing the previous GT round, Brendon Leitch is back racing this weekend with some special colours.

Last weekend Leitch was present but not racing the GT World Challenge Australia round at Sandown due to the recent passing of co-driver and friend Tim Miles.

Leitch is making his Italian GT Championship debut at Imola alongside Tony McIntosh in a Ceccato Racing BMW M4 GT3.

But to make it even more special, the car is dressed in a tribute livery to the BMW 3.0 CSL that fellow Kiwi Chris Amon raced in the seventies.

German Hans-Joachim Stuck and New Zealander Chris Amon won the 1973 Grosser Preis Der Tourenwagen held over six hours around the Nurburgring in the European Touring Car Championship.

Leitch has already steered an Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Mercedes-AMG, but admits this BMW is extra special.

“I’ve never driven the BMW before but Imola is a circuit I know very well, so all I have to learn is the car,” said Leitch.

“I’ve heard good things about the BMW, and you can see from its recent results that it’s one of the best cars to have in GT3 racing right now. BMW won the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year and the Nurburgring 24.

“I think I’ve shown that I’m versatile having driven so many different cars with different engine configurations, displacements, and wheel bases, so getting up to speed shouldn’t take too long.”

Whilst it is a new car, it is not a new track for Leitch, who raced there in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe.

“I love Imola. It’s definitely up there as one of my favourite tracks. It’s such a high-commitment circuit with surprisingly quite a bit of elevation change,” Leitch explained.

“The first bit through the Tamburello chicane is make or break. If you mess that part, your lap is toast and there’s really no coming back from a mistake there.

“Piratella into Acque Minerali requires the utmost precision. You can gain so much time there and really sets you up for the chicane afterwards, Variante Alta. That’s probably my favourite part of the circuit and it’s another spot where you can make up a ton of time.

“I actually cannot wait to see how the BMW behaves across the kerbs. I’ve heard good things and from what I’ve seen in videos the car looks like it can take the bumps pretty well. It looks pretty well balanced and it sounds cool too with the turbos.”

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.