Difficult Weekend For Damon Leitch

MEDIA RELEASE
3 FEBRUARY 2013

Difficult Weekend For Damon Leitch

Round 4 of the 2013 Toyota Racing Series at Hampton Downs in Waikato this weekend proved to be a difficult one for Damon Leitch of Invercargill.

Leitch has struggled throughout the series to get clear laps to set good qualifying times and that was the case again at Hampton Downs as he set times good enough for twelfth and eleventh on the grid in Saturdays two qualifying sessions.

However Leitch is one man in the closely bunched field who always seems able to work his way forward in the races and after an eventful opening lap in Saturday afternoons opening race the young Southlander had the Post Haste Couriers Toyota up to sixth place from twelfth on the grid. However shortly after a restart he was caught out on the circuit which was breaking up badly and bent a steering arm in contact with another car. From then on he was only able to nurse the car home finishing seventeenth and last car running one lap down on the leaders.

The lowly finish in Saturdays race had the Southlander in seventeenth position on the grid for Sunday mornings race. Once again he made short work of carving his way through the traffic, lifting himself to tenth place in the course of the opening lap. A moment on the 'marbles' caused by the circuit surface breaking up again cost him a couple of spots soon after but again he made up ground to bring the Post Haste Couriers Toyota home in eleventh place.

In the final race over 20 laps for the New Zealand Motor Cup Leitch drove through from eleventh on the grid to seventh before another incident. "I had good speed and I was catching the group of cars in front after a safety car period when Lucas Auer dived alongside me into a corner." Leitch left the Austrian some room for his manoeuvre but in doing so got caught on the loose surface again and left the track, dropping down the order again to finish twelfth.

Despite the fact that it was one of his toughest weekends in the series Leitch has managed to remain seventh in the point standings.

The car was going well at times but the track surface was breaking up and lime dust was used to fix it which made the track very slippery," said Leitch.

The final round of the series takes place at Manfeild Park in Feilding next weekend. The feature event of the final round will be the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Photograph - Damon Leitch and the Post Haste Couriers Toyota in action at Hampton Downs - please credit Bruce Jenkins

2013 TOYOTA RACING SERIES CALENDAR
Round 1: 12/13 January 2013 - Teretonga Park, Invercargill
Round 2: 19/20 January 2013 - Timaru International Motor Raceway, Levels Timaru
Round 3: 26/27 January 2013 - Taupo Motorsport Park, Taupo
Round 4: 2/3 February 2013 - Hampton Downs, Waikato
Round 5: 9/10 February 2013 - Manfeild Park, Feilding

ENDS

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