Brendon Leitch primed for tough 24H Dubai race

Southland’s Brendon Leitch is more than ready to tackle the 2024 Hankook 24 Hours of Dubai endurance race this weekend along with his Leipert Motorsport teammates Gabriele Rindone, Marco Mapelli and Alban Varutti. Competing in the GT3 Pro/Am category, the team will be sharing a factory-supported Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 at the Dubai Autodrome.

“We have one objective and that is to win,” commented Leich. “We have a strong lineup, a great team and support and a super quick car. We will put everything on the line and see if we can pull it off.”

The Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe champion has an experienced team around him with Rindone winning the 992-Am category in 2023, Mapelli an experienced Lamborghini factory driver and Varutti back for his fifth consecutive Hankook 24H Dubai.

“It’s my third time at track and my second 24H Dubai,” said Leitch. “It’s a circuit which I really enjoy, in fact, one of my favourites. It’s quite fast with lots of high-speed stuff.

“We have a quick car, but we will have to see if it will suit it. We will know after the first practice. There is a lot to be decided leading up to the race such as team strategy, which order we will jump in the car and for how long.

“The last time I competed in this race back in 2022 we did finish but off the pace. It’s a tough race and over the 24 hours there is more time to exhaust yourself and make errors, so rest, hydration and nutrition become really important.”

Gearing up for its 19th edition on 26-27-28 January, the 2024 Hankook 24H DUBAI is set to feature a grid of 50-plus cars including big name marques such as Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG, Lotus and Bentley, plus former outright winners, reigning and established 24H SERIES champions,

Qualifying takes place on Friday with the 24-hour race underway at 1pm local time on Saturday 27 January 2024.