Southland driver Brendon Leitch is going to give the Toyota Racing Series a ‘good shot’ when it commences at Ruapuna this weekend.
The 20-year-old is confident of an improved showing at this season’s event after receiving a new sponsorship deal.
The Invercargill raised driver is looking forward to being able to compete on a level playing field with the big budgeted European drivers.
“I didn’t want to go in like I did other years, with a small budget and only do as much as I could do without the money,” he said.
“I wanted to be able to go in and spend the same amount of money as the Europeans and give it a good shot, to see what I could really do against them.”
He finished ninth overall in the series last year, but he had success at Invercargill’s Teretonga Park after spending more money on that race.
“I did spend a little bit more money there than I had hoped as I wanted to show what I could do,” he said.
“It was a gamble and it paid off.”
He qualified in pole position and won the feature race, to claim a rare home victory in the Spirit of a Nation Trophy.
The boost in funding has changed his preparation and expectations heading into the series.
“Now going into this season, I am going to have that amount of backing going into each round,” he said.
“I have been training pretty hard, I am 7kg lighter than I was this time last year.”
“That is the effort I have been putting in this year so I can give it a proper nudge.”
He is happy with his new sponsorship deal.
“ITM are backing me this year,” he said.
“I am really thrilled to have the backing of those guys, they have been part of my racing campaign with the Formula Fords as part of my career, now they have come up with a more substantial deal.”
It is an achievement just getting to the start line for the apprentice mechanic who spends his lunch time and after work hunting for sponsorship.
It costs around $150,000 to participate in the series, with sponsorship required by drivers who aren’t self-funded.
“It isn’t cheap,” he said.
“I do all of my sponsorship myself and with my parents as well, after work and lunch breaks.”
The apprentice mechanic has high expectations heading into the five-week event, despite coming up against a strong field.
The confirmed drivers include the latest protege from the Ferrari Driver Academy Guanyu Zhou of China, Force India Academy driver Jehan Daruvula of India, Pedro Piquet, son of three-time World Formula 1 Champion Nelson Piquet and the youngest ever World Karting Champion Lando Norris of Britain.
“I am definitely not the underdog,” he said.
“I have done plenty of kilometres in these cars, I have still done a lot less miles than these guys, some of them are only 15-year-olds.”
“It is hard to know how I am going to go this year, I have just done everything so differently to the last few years.”
The 2016 Toyota Racing Series consists of five rounds starting at Ruapuna this weekend, followed by rounds on subsequent weekends at Teretonga Park, Hampton Downs, Taupo before concluding with the New Zealand Grand Prix at Manfeild.
