Leitch Had “Not Too High Expectations” For World Finals

Lamborghini World Finals title winner Brendon Leitch admitted he had “not too high expectations” going into the crucial second race at Monza after he and Nicolas Stati only qualified ninth.

The Leipert Motorsport duo finished second in Saturday’s opening Pro/Pro-Am Cup contest but both they and Race 1 winners Dennis Lind and Elias De La Torre faced a tough task to take the title following a tricky Q2 that left De La Torre even further back on the grid in 13th.

However, Australian Stati successfully negotiated the chaotic first lap and a strategy of pitting as soon as the window opened and releasing Leitch into fresh air worked perfectly as the New Zealander was able to blast into the lead to seal his second World Finals title, after taking Pro-Am honors in 2024.

Leitch described it as an ideal boost ahead of the pair contesting this winter’s Asian Le Mans Series together at the wheel of a Leipert Lamborghini Temerario GT3.

“We went into today’s race with not too high expectations, just to go and have some fun and send it and it went our way — many times for me it hasn’t,” Leitch told Sportscar365.

“Super happy for both of us to get the world championship, it’s something I’ve wanted for a long, long time and it’s amazing for Nic to get his sports car career with a world championship heading into Asian Le Mans in a few weeks’ time.”

Leitch not only paid tribute to the Leipert squad that gave the pair an “amazing car,” but also to Stati’s role during the hectic early stages.

“Nic got away cleanly and kept the car in one piece and that paid dividends by him passing a handful of cars and giving me the car in fifth or sixth place and then just undercut everybody like crazy,” he said.

“And you can’t do that without a really fast car, the thing was just a rocket, I was having a blast — the most fun you can have with your pants on!”

Leitch was also delighted to have taken the victory in the final event for the Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 machine.

“I started my GT career with Lamborghini and to win this means a lot,” he said.

“Racing GT3 all the time now, it’s so much fun to come back here and it reminds me of what it’s all about and it’s good hard, pure racing.

“Going into the weekend, I wasn’t sure what to expect — I knew we would be quick but I wasn’t sure how fast. I knew we would do the best we could and would leave nothing on the table.”

Stati, in his first full year of GT racing having previously competed in single-seaters, described the result as a “big confidence boost.”

“This has been on my to-do list for a long time, it’s been one of my goals for a long time to win this one day and fortunate enough that day was today,” Stati told Sportscar365.

“But I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Brendon, he’s been a huge help.

“That first stint was staying out of trouble. Obviously knowing it was the last race, it was going to be chaos so it was using our head and then trying to get in fresh air as soon as possible.”