A win in just the third race of the GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS season at GT Festival The Bend headlined a breakthrough weekend for Brendon Leitch and Sergio Pires.
It featured several firsts for the Geyer Valmont Racing by Tigani Motorsport duo at The Bend Motorsport Park as the headline act for the Shannons SpeedSeries.
“Really good weekend. A lot of good firsts, especially for Sergio,” said Leitch. “To see his performance improvement has been amazing and the upwards trajectory has been huge. The team did a really good job with preparing the car, setting it up, and making it insanely fast out of the gate to drive.
Pires took a career-first GT World Challenge Australia pole position, topping Am qualifying on Saturday morning. Then Leitch backed that effort up with second place in the Pro qualifying behind Tigani Motorsport teammate Jayden Ojeda.
Pires controlled the opening stint of Race 1, holding off last year’s Pro-Am champion Brad Schumacher before the Melbourne Performance Centre driver spun on his own at Turn 9.
Leitch took the reins of the #44 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO at the halfway mark and managed the gap back to the second-placed Team BRM Audi R8 of Thomas Randle with Mark Rosser.
Leitch took the chequered flag first by just under two seconds to take his first outright win with Tigani Motorsport. It was also Pires’ first GT World Challenge Australia win.
Their triumph came with consequences, however. An additional 15 seconds of success penalty was added to their pit stop for Sunday afternoon’s race.
From second on the grid, Leitch challenged teammate Ojeda into the first turn before settling into position. Leitch led a throng of experienced Supercar stars, including Broc Feeney and Ryan Wood before the mid-race pit stops.
Having come into the pits in second place, their success penalty dropped them down to seventh place. A decision to change the left front tyre looked to have been beneficial as Pires quickly caught Elliott Schutte in the Arise Racing Ferrari 296.
Unfortunately, a car balance shift and a mistake through Turn 10 ended with Pires briefly taking his Mercedes-AMG through the grass. With a large gap back to eighth, Pires elected to go into conservation mode to the chequered flag.
Paul Lucchitti won Sunday’s race with Ojeda, capping off a dominant weekend for Tigani Motorsport with two pole positions and two race wins.
“Today (Sunday) I think we optimised it. We tried something and it didn’t work out and we ended up where we thought we were going to finish, so I don’t think it’s anything lost and we learned something,” said Leitch.
“We definitely put our flag in the ground and said we’re not here to put boots on caterpillars.”
For Pires, it was a much-needed comeback from the disappointment of Phillip Island where they were robbed of what should have been a podium finish in Race 2 due to a last lap crash.
“I’m super proud of the weekend. We did a lot of firsts, so I’m happy with that,” said Pires.
“The car was really good. I’m a bit disappointed with Race 2 that we couldn’t get more out of it but it’s a tough place to pass so we came out in seventh. Feels like the most we could do out of the day.
“Big bounce back after the disappointment of Phillip Island. Super happy that we’re climbing the ladder again and back in the title run.”
That title run has moved Leitch and Pires within 15 points of series leaders Schumacher and Feeney.
Leitch expressed confidence in the Geyer Valmont Racing team’s ability to fight for the title by the time the series gets to the Adelaide Grand Final.
“The confidence there is massive knowing that this is our championship to lose,” said Leitch.
“We have to fight back to get to it but we have in my opinon the best line-up on the grid in the best team and the best car. It’s ours to lose at the end of the year and we just need to keep chipping away.”
Leitch will continue his racing season with GT World Challenge Asia powered by Asia at Shanghai International Circuit, home of the Chinese Grand Prix, on June 4-6.
GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS returns at Queensland Raceway on June 12-14.
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