Damon Leitch has finished a highly impressive third in the 2014 Toyota Racing Series. Twenty-year-old Leitch from Invercargill, who is now working in Cromwell, had another superb weekend in the final round of the series at Manfeild this weekend snaring a second and a third in the first two races before a problem sent him off the track in the feature race, the New Zealand Grand Prix.
However his fast and consistent form throughout the series was good enough to secure third in the classy international field, equalling his effort in the 2012 series.
Damon was again on the pace throughout qualifying on a wet track on Saturday morning, recording times good enough for sixth and eighth in the two qualifying sessions. In the first race on Saturday afternoon for the Dan Higgins Memorial Trophy Leitch scored second place behind championship leader Andrew Tang of Singapore after a chargng drive. The result moved Damon into second place in the championship on the same points as UK driver Jann Mardenborough, just 37 points behind Tang.
The following morning Leitch was third in a fifteen lap race behind Steijn Schothorst of the Netherlands and Mardenborough in a result that closed up the championship points with Leitch going into final race of the series a very close third behind Tang and Mardenborough.
The New Zealand Grand Prix began well for Damon and he climbed from eighth to fourth early in the race, very much in contention. Unfortunately his Post Haste Couriers Toyota received some front suspension damage at a restart and from then on in Damon’s words it became “hard work.” He battled on but then the gearbox malfunctioned, chopping down two gears which locked up the back of the car, pitching it off the road and out of the race. Despite that Leitch still took third place in the series after five intense rounds, battling some top class international competition.
“I’m pretty happy with the weekend but disappointed to not finish the Grand Prix,” said Damon on Sunday evening. “It is a shame we couldn’t have a good finish in that race.” However third place in the ultra competitive series is another top result for the kiwi who has few racing outings each year.
BRENDON LEITCH ENDS SERIES ON A HIGH
Eighteen year old Brendon Leitch of Invercargill has finished the 2014 Toyota Racing Series on a high with eleventh place in the New Zealand Grand Prix after a fine drive from the back of the grid.
Brendon had a tough start at Manfeild after a difficult round at Hampton Downs last weekend, qualifying well down the order. However it was then that his Nelson based Victory Motor Racing team discovered a problem with the car that had caused the difficulties the previous week. Damage from a crash at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell during Round 3 of the series that was not immediately apparent was discovered and with that remedied Brendon was back on the pace. He charged from the back of the field in the Dan Higgins Memorial Trophy race on Saturday afternoon to finish fifteenth and was gaining more places in Sunday morning’s race when the throttle jammed, pitching him into the wall. With the car repaired for the New Zealand Grand Prix later that afternoon Leitch put in a brilliant drive, again climbing from the rear of the field to finish eleventh in his first appearance in New Zealand’s most prestigious domestic motor race.
After several top ten placings in the first three rounds of the series the problem had hampered Brendon in his latest outings but once the damage was repaired he again showed his ability.
Looking back on his first taste of the very competitive series Brendon said, “it was good. It was a lot of hard work but hopefully I will be back next season now that I have my first experience of wings and slicks cars.”
