Siblings to slug it out in NZGP
Brotherly love will be forgotten when the visors come down at the New Zealand Grand Prix at Hampton Downs.
Experienced racer Damon Leitch, pictured, is the latest driver to commit to the event being held over the weekend of January 23-24, where he will lock horns with his younger sibling, Brendon.
Damon, track operations manager at Highlands Motorsport Park, has plenty of experience in the Castrol Toyota Racing Series (TRS) and competed in it from 2011-15, finishing third overall in 2012 and 2014.
The 28-year-old is also a two-time winner of the Bruce McLaren Trophy, has driven in Formula Ford and karting, and competed in the Highlands 101 endurance event.
The Leitch brothers have faced each other on the track a number of times and Damon says he is looking forward to the challenge of driving alongside Brendon and a host of other star names.
“We’ve raced together before so we know the level of rivalry we have and it’s pretty friendly being brothers,” he explains.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun racing in the event but I think most racing drivers would say that when the visors are down, it gets serious.
“I’ve got experience in the previous two types of TRS car and although this one is new, and I might tap up Brendon for a little bit of info, it’s a modern racing car and I’m looking forward to getting my head around it, getting up to speed and being competitive.”
The Grand Prix is being billed as the “Race of Champions” with Shane van Gisbergen, Andre Heimgartner, Greg Murphy and Daniel Gaunt among the drivers taking part.
The MotorSport New Zealand-sanctioned event doubles as the opening round of the 2021 TRS.
Josie Spillane, chief operating officer at Hampton Downs, describes Damon’s talent in a single seater as “second to none”.
“He holds the unofficial lap record at Highlands, which is impressive, given most of his days now don’t involve any seat time,” she explains.
“We are looking forward to seeing him go up against current competitors and of course his brother. Although the last time Brendon and Damon raced together, one of them ended up disqualified with Tony Quinn, for a ‘love tap’ so we won’t be looking for a repeat performance of that this time.”
The MotorSport New Zealand-sanctioned event doubles as the opening round of the championship.
