He recently returned from test driving at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the high-profile Newman Wachs Racing team and a month out from the start of the 2017 Toyota Racing Series (TRS), Cromwell-based Leitch (21) has secured a full budget to run in the five-round championship.
His October test with the Newman Wachs Racing team on the road course previously used for the Formula One United States Grand Prix was conducted in a car similar to his TRS car and he was able to provide plenty of feedback to the team.
"Everybody there was really impressed with this Kiwi guy going over there and doing what I did," Leitch said.
The rare opportunity was organised by Garry Orton, of Victory Motor Racing, the Nelson-based team Leitch has represented in the TRS for the past three years. Leitch said he achieved what he set out to do with the test day and it was now a case of waiting to see what it might lead to.
"Obviously, I’d love to race over in the United States," he said.
In the meantime, it was all good seat time as he builds his fitness in preparation for the TRS, which begins next month in Christchurch on January 14 and 15. The closest he will come to racing in Otago will be the Teretonga Park round in Invercargill from January 19 to 22.
Leitch, who works as an apprentice mechanic and hot laps driver at Highlands Motorsport Park in Cromwell has been running around the circuit as part of his preparation. His cardio, weights and core strength training is all to help ready him for the intense heat inside the TRS car and the G-forces it generates over a summer season of racing.
Leitch is "still fizzing" about how everything has come together for him pre-season.
"Thanks to the support of longtime sponsor ITM, I have a full budget for the first time ever and I am ready to rock," he said.
This will be his fourth tilt at the series but the first time he has known weeks ahead of the season that he has a full budget to battle the international stars who come to New Zealand to compete.
Despite limited resources and opportunities, Leitch has an impressive record in New Zealand motor racing. After finishing in the top three of the New Zealand Formula Ford Championship two years in succession, he moved into the TRS three seasons ago.
With minimal preparation each year, he has won two races in the series — one in the 2015 season and one in 2016 — and has been on the podium several times. Last season, he finished third overall in the series points, was the top Kiwi and the only New Zealander to win a race.
