Leitch’s Leipert Motorsport team win at 24H Dubai

Kiwi diver Brendon Leitch and Leipert Motorsport have celebrated another major success last weekend at the 24H Dubai, winning the GTX Class and finishing 26th overall at the final round of the Creventic 24H Middle Eastern Trophy. In the second race of the year, the team fielded a Lamborghini Super Trofeo Evo2 in the GTX class with a five-man driver line-up: Gerhard Watzinger (USA), Don Yount (USA), Fred Roberts (CAN), Manz Thalin (SWE) and Brendon Leitch (NZL).

The team showed that it was well prepared right from the practice sessions. All sessions went without a hitch, and Thalin and Roberts in particular made intensive use of the extensive track time. For both of them, it was not only their first participation in a 24-hour race, but also their first outing at the Dubai Autodrome.

Leipert Motorsport confirmed its strong form in qualifying. Yount put the Lamborghini in third place on the grid in the first qualifying session, Thalin set the second-fastest time in the second session, before Leitch secured pole position in the GTX class for the #710 Lamborghini with the fastest time in the third qualifying session.

Thalin took the start of the race and, at just 17 years of age, put in a remarkably confident performance in his first 24-hour race. He steered the Lamborghini safely through the early stages and handed the car over to his teammates without incident.

In the following stints, AM drivers Watzinger, Yount and Roberts and PRO driver Leitch drove the Lamborghini into the evening and night hours.

A close head-to-head battle developed in the GTX class over the entire race distance. Until the middle of the race, the six cars were fighting on an almost equal footing, before a three-way battle between the Ginetta, the Rossa and the Lamborghini from Leipert Motorsport emerged in the second half of the race.

Thanks to consistently strong stints from all drivers, a flawless team performance and reliable car performance, Leipert Motorsport was able to pull away decisively as the race progressed. Without any collisions, damage or strategic errors, the team finally brought the Lamborghini home as class winner after 24 hours.