Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires have vaulted themselves into the lead of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS points after a clinical weekend at Queensland Raceway.
The Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport duo walked away from the Ipswich circuit with finishes of third and first across the pair of 60-minute races for a series-best weekend for both drivers.
Leitch and Pires came into the third round of the series fifth in the standings and 15 points in arrears of Melbourne Performance Racing drivers Broc Feeney and Brad Schumacher.
Pires qualified the #44 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO in third for Saturday’s race while Leitch qualified second for Sunday’s affair.
They finished Race 1 in third just behind their Tigani Motorsport teammates Oscar Targett and Justin Tigani.
With Feeney and Schumacher finishing in fourth place, Leitch and Pires cut the deficit down to a 12-point gap.
Race 2 could not have gone any better for Leitch and Pires. From the outside of row one, Leitch drove around Targett at the first turn to assume the lead of the race into the second corner.
With a five-second success penalty applied to their pit stop, Leitch built a big enough gap to overcome the hurdle and hand the car over to Pires and resume the lead of the race.
Pires held his own in the second stanza, managing the gap back to second to finish comfortably ahead of the Ryan Wood/Steve Brooks Team BRM Audi.
With finishes of third and first coupled with some bad luck for their rivals, Leitch and Pires have surged into the lead of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS points.
“Coming into the weekend we didn’t anticipate getting the results that we got. We were just trying to come away with a good clean weekend and a good haul of points with the cards that we had been dealt,” said Leitch.
“To come away with a third and a second in qualifying and then a third and first in the race was just exceptional. It’s the best weekend in GT World Challenge Australia for either of us.
“Race 1 on Saturday was perfectly executed from Sergio’s side and then I was able to bring it home in third.
“Today, in Race 2, I was able to take the lead at the start with a very friendly manoeuvre around the outside of Oscar and then drive off into the distance and hand Sergio the lead. He did the rest and controlled the race until the chequered flag.”
The win moves Leitch and Pires to 85 points while Tigani Motorsport teammates Jayden Ojeda and Paul Lucchitti stay second on 76 points. Feeney and Schumacher have fallen to third on 73 points.
Pires hailed the efforts of his co-driver Leitch and the Tigani Motorsport crew.
“It was a pretty perfect weekend. To come home with a third and a first at a track that
we thought wouldn’t suit us is pretty amazing,” said Pires.
“Super happy with how I drove all weekend. Brendon made it pretty easy for me, giving me the lead and a couple of mistakes behind me meant I wasn’t under too much pressure and just had to bring it home.
“I’m super happy to be leading the championship halfway through. Couldn’t ask for more. The Tigani Motorsport guys and girls have been amazing and it’s a testament to their work that we can keep executing these kinds of results every weekend.”
GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS resumes at Hidden Valley Raceway for the Liqui-Moly GT Festival Darwin
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