Andrew Waite (28) and Brendon Leitch (21) both work at Highlands Motorsport Park. Waite is the park’s head driver, and Leitch its apprentice mechanic and back-up driver.
The two are never in one place for long, as they are in the middle of separate international racing series.
Waite returned from Shanghai this week, where his team won the second race of the Le Mans Prototype series in China, placing it second overall. He will return to China later this month, for the third in the four-race series.
He is originally from Auckland and drove in Formula Ford and Toyota Racing Series classes before switching to V8s, where he raced legends of the sport such as Greg Murphy.
"I really learnt a lot from those guys. That’s when I really went for it."
Waite moved to Cromwell to work at Highlands about three years ago and eased off on racing until he received the call earlier this year to join the China series.
This was "kick-started" by racing with Highlands owner Tony Quinn in the Bathurst 12 Hour endurance race in February.
Leitch has also been busy racing all over North America in the FIA Formula 4 USA Championship.
"There are a lot of up-and-comers racing. Some of the top young guys from around Europe," he said.
Leitch began in single-seaters aged only 13, and went on to place second in the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship when he was 16.
Originally from Invercargill, he moved to Cromwell to work at Highlands three years ago.
For both the passion for racing began with karts, both having been attracted to the vehicles when they were about 6.
Leitch said his parents met for the first time while kart racing and their influence had been a decider for him.
"My brother, when he was 6 years old, wasn’t doing too well in school. Not doing his homework. Mum and Dad said ‘if you start doing the hard work, we’ll buy you a go-kart’, and he was top of the class after that.
"A few years later, being the younger one, I got the same opportunity and then just got the bug," Leitch said.
Waite also comes from a motorsport family. However, he had to push his father to let him compete, rather than the other way around, Waite said.
As for who can out-kart the other these days, both men say it’s close.
Leitch said the races were "very competitive".
"We chop and change quite a lot. We’re battling for thousandths of a second."
