Brendon Leitch to race in iconic Chris Amon colours

When Brendon Leitch makes his Italian GT Championship debut, he’ll be carrying colours made famous by another New Zealander Chris Amon.

Leitch will join Italian team Ceccato Racing alongside Bronze driver Tony McIntosh of the United States in a BMW M4 GT3.

That car will be dressed in a tribute livery to the BMW 3.0 CSL that was made famous in the 1970s. The ‘Batmobile’ as it became known won six European titles, was a winner at the Nurburgring, and was the canvas for the first BMW art car.

German Hans-Joachim Stuck and New Zealander Chris Amon won the 1973 Grosser Preis Der Tourenwagen, or Touring Car Grand Prix, a six-hour race at the Nurburging that formed part of the European Touring Car Championship.

The #12 BMW 3.0 CSL led home the sister factory entry of Toine Hezemans, Dieter Quester, and Harald Menzel. Hans-Peter Joisten and Niki Lauda were third in another BMW for Jagermeister Alpina Racing.

Come August 1-3 at Imola, the Kiwi will compete in the Am class of the Italian GT Championship and will look to emulate some of the success that BMW has since enjoyed in the iconic colours.

The BMW adds to a growing list of contemporary GT3 brands that Leitch has driven alongside Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Mercedes-AMG.

“I’ve never driven the BMW before but Imola is a circuit I know very well, so all I have to learn is the car,” said Leitch.

“I’ve heard good things about the BMW, and you can see from its recent results that it’s one of the best cars to have in GT3 racing right now. BMW won the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year and the Nurburgring 24.

“I think I’ve shown that I’m versatile having driven so many different cars with different engine configurations, displacements, and wheel bases, so getting up to speed shouldn’t take too long.”

Imola has played host to Formula 1 and the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in recent years as well as several GT races and endurance events.

Leitch last raced there in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe, both behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Huracan.

“I love Imola. It’s definitely up there as one of my favourite tracks. It’s such a high-commitment circuit with surprisingly quite a bit of elevation change,” Leitch explained.

“The first bit through the Tamburello chicane is make or break. If you mess that part, your lap is toast and there’s really no coming back from a mistake there.

“Piratella into Acque Minerali requires the utmost precision. You can gain so much time there and really sets you up for the chicane afterwards, Variante Alta. That’s probably my favourite part of the circuit and it’s another spot where you can make up a ton of time.

“I actually cannot wait to see how the BMW behaves across the kerbs. I’ve heard good things and from what I’ve seen in videos the car looks like it can take the bumps pretty well. It looks pretty well balanced and it sounds cool too with the turbos.”

Roberto Ravaglia, team manager of Ceccato Racing, welcomed Leitch and McIntosh to the team.

“At Imola, we’ll double our presence on the track with an additional car, a choice that confirms the versatility and solidity of our project,” said Ravaglia.

“We’ll be competing in the Am class with a close-knit and top-level driver pairing: McIntosh, who is having a very positive season, and Leitch, a fast driver with extensive experience in international GT racing.

“We’re confident their contribution will be an added value for the entire team and we’re confident they’ll be able to play a leading role in their category.”

This weekend’s race will be a three-hour that begins on Monday, August 4 at 1:30am NZST.