Brendon Leitch and teammate JJ Song scored a podium finish at the fourth round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia with Leipert Motorsport, held at the Inje Speedium in South Korea. As in the previous round in Fuji Japan, the Lamborghinis were driven by E. Brown (SIN) / N. Pirttilahti (FIN) in car number 27 and JJ Song (CHN) / B. Leitch (NZL) in car number 89.
Despite challenging weather conditions during the monsoon season, the team once again presented itself in strong form and impressed with consistently fast lap times and a well-deserved podium finish.
Strong pace in wet conditions in practice and qualifying
Both cars were already among the front-runners in free practice, showing strong pace in changeable track conditions. In the subsequent qualifying, the team held its own in consistently wet conditions and secured strong starting positions:
In Q1, Pirttilahti (#27) qualified in P4 (PRO) and Song (#89) in P5 (PRO-AM). In Q2, Brown in the #27 car secured third place on the grid in the PRO class, while Leitch secured pole position in the PRO-AM classification.
Race 1: Good pace and time penalties
In the first race, the #27 car with Pirttilahti got off to a strong start and fought its way up to third place. However, a 10-second time penalty during the mandatory pit stop and a safety car phase lasting over 20 minutes prevented a better result. Brown took over at the halfway point and brought the car home in a well deserved fourth place in the PRO class.
The #89 also put in a solid performance: Song confidently defended his starting position before Leitch made up ground with several strong overtaking manoeuvres. However, due to a safety car phase during the pit stop window and a subsequent penalty, the duo ultimately dropped from fourth to sixth place in the PRO-AM class.
Race 2: Early exit for #27, podium for #89
Leitch once again got off to a strong start in the #89, setting the fastest lap of the race and handing over to Song in the lead of the PRO-AM class.
Despite a confusing safety car phase and attacks from the competition, Song defended his good starting position with all his might and crossed the finish line in a strong second place – a well-deserved podium finish in the PRO-AM class.
The second race did not start as planned for #27, as it later transpired that the fastest qualifying lap was set when part of the track was under yellow flags. As a result, #27 started the second race from fifth on the grid.
However, Brown worked his way up the field very well in the opening minutes and impressed with his strong pace. But an unfortunate collision while overtaking ended the race prematurely with radiator damage, meaning the duo failed to finish.
“Under the difficult conditions of the weekend, we showed very good pace, which unfortunately was not sufficiently rewarded in the case of the Brown/Pirttilahti duo,” commented Team Director Marcel Leipert. “Nevertheless, the performance of the entire team – both on and off the track – was once again very good. In addition to many positive impressions, we were also able to collect valuable points for the championship.”
The fifth and final round of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia will take the field to the Malaysian Sepang International Circuit from 5 to 7 September. There, Leipert Motorsport will once again battle for overall and class victories before the big World Final in Misano in November.
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