Leitch eyes GT title

Kiwi combination Brendon Leitch and Tim Miles have made their intentions on chasing the GT World Challenge Australia title clear.

Leitch and Miles burst onto the scene last year by winning on debut at Phillip Island which is also hosting this weekend’s opening round.

However, despite the sheer speed and even entering the Bathurst finale within mathematical contention for the title, the black Audi only ended up finishing sixth in the championship chase with flat tyres and penalties.

Reflecting on the lessons of last year, Leitch believes that if the pair don’t make the same mistakes, they can go all the way.

“Last year was incredible despite the end result,” he said.

“We definitely didn’t get as many wins as we would have liked when we had so many opportunities, but we definitely made a point.

“Bathurst was one of the wildest weekends of my life. Putting it on pole position having never driven the track before against some experienced guys like Will Brown, Jaxon Evans, and Jayden Ojeda is already a career highlight.

“We should have won that race if not for leaving our pit box milliseconds too early. I’ve tried not to dwell on it, but I’d be lying if I said it’s not motivating me.

“We’ve got continuity going into 2025. We’ve got the same driver line-up, the same team, the same awesome looking car, and the same supporters. However, we’re going to take a different approach.

“This year is all about being smart. Last year we made too many basic mistakes, which meant we were penalised a lot.

“If we have to consolidate, we will, and I think maximising the bad days will put us in good stead for the season finale.

“This year the season finishes at Hampton Downs, so it would be amazing if we could win the championship in front of a home crowd. That’s the goal.”

Another motivating factor for Leitch is to simply repay Mies for giving him a drive that has created so many opportunities.

“After winning the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe championship in 2023, we began 2024 not knowing where I would race,” he said.

“We were made some promises but what we hoped to do in Europe didn’t pan out.

“I think it was definitely those (GT World Challenge) races that really put my name on people’s radar and if not for that I probably would never have got the chance to test a Supercar with Matt Stone or race in the Bathurst 12 Hour with Wall Racing.

“I’m very thankful for Tim. He gave me a chance when things were looking pretty bleak and winning the second race at Phillip Island vindicated Tim’s faith in me and our decision to move from Germany to Australia.”

Image: Race Project

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