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Double duties for Brendon Leitch in fifth Lamborghini World Finals

7 November, 2025

Brendon Leitch will have six shots at victory at Misano when the Lamborghini Super Trofeo season comes to a close.
Leitch will finish his Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia season with China’s JJ Song and Leipert Motorsport in the Pro-Am class.
The New Zealander has also been drafted in for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe final with Australia’s Nicolas Stati in another Pro-Am entry by Leipert Motorsport.
The final rounds of the Asia and Europe series take place across November 6-7 before the Lamborghini World Finals on November 8-9.
The three regional series – Europe, Asia, and North America – finish their respective championships before combining grids for the World Finals.

This year marks the 12th edition of the World Finals and the fifth time Leitch has competed in them.

He returns in 2025 as last year’s Pro-Am class winner in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals, where he took victory with Anthony McIntosh at Jerez.
“The Lamborghini World Finals have traditionally been a happy hunting ground for me in the past,” said Leitch.
“With Leipert Motorsport, we’ve won a lot of trophies and probably punched above our weight quite a bit against some of the more well-known teams in GT racing.
“Last year was amazing with Tony, and this year I’m really hopeful we can replicate that with JJ and Nicolas.”
Leitch will split his duties on Thursday and Friday between Song and Stati before the World Finals where he and Song will race together.
Both Song and Stati are launching their respective careers. For Song, it’s his first year racing in Super Trofeo, while Stati is on the path towards IndyCar. Next year, Stati will set up to Indy NXT.
“JJ and I have really enjoyed this year together. We probably haven’t had the success we would have liked, but JJ can see the potential,” said Leitch.
“We’ve come close to getting a few wins. That’s where experience counts, and my job is really to coach JJ and develop him to a point where I can hand him the car and he can hold off some of the faster guys.
“Equally important is him being quick enough so that when the roles are reversed I can get us into a position to win by the end of the race. That’s the beauty of Pro-Am racing is that balancing act between the Pro and the Am.
“I’m also really looking forward to working with Nicolas. It’s crazy the trajectory he’s on at just 16 years old going to Indy NXT in 2026.
“I was really only just getting started in the Toyota Racing Series at that age and he’s already jumping into really powerful cars. He has got a lot of potential and the most valuable thing you can have in motorsport is seat time.”Race 1 of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia at Misano is scheduled for 11:25pm NZDT. Race 2 takes place on Saturday at 3:00am NZDT. Leitch and Song will be in the No.289 car.
Race 1 of Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe gets underway on Friday at 3:10am NZDT. Race 2 is scheduled 12:00am NZDT on Saturday morning. Leitch and Stati will be in the No.70 car.
The Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals begin with qualifying on Sunday at 12:20am NZDT before Race 1 at 4:20am NZDT. Race 2 takes place on Monday at 2:20am NZDT.

Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Misano schedule
Race 1 – Thursday – 11:25pm NZDT
Race 2 – Saturday – 3:00am NZDT

Lamborghini Super Trofeo Europe Misano schedule
Race 1 – Friday – 3:10am NZDT
Race 2 – Friday – 12:00am NZDT

Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Finals Misano schedule
Qualifying – Sunday – 12:20am NZDT
Race 1 – Sunday – 4:20am NZDT
Race 2 – Monday – 2:20am NZDT

NZ Classic Car magazine, September/October 2026 issue 407, on sale now

16 August, 2026

We love bugs!
A bit of TLC that became a major restoration
The 1302S, or ‘Super Beetle’ as it became known, was built for two years before it, too, was replaced by a further-enhanced Beetle, the 1303, continuing an amazing 65-year lineage for one of the World’s best-known shapes.
The world’s best-selling single-model vehicle, the VW Beetle, possibly established another record for the amount of controversy it has created since the inception of the Type 1.
In a meeting with Hitler in June 1934, Ferdinand Porsche was contracted to build a ‘People’s Car’ that could accommodate two adults and three children, was air-cooled and simple to maintain, and could cruise economically at moderate speed along Germany’s proposed new Autobahns.
Our feature car, a 1972 1302S ‘Super Beetle’, was found by Dave and Michelle Dickie in Mosgiel a few years back. It was a runner, but like most VWs of this age, it needed a little TLC. They were looking for a daily driver for Michelle when they first came upon the VW being sold locally on behalf of its owner.
“The owner offered it to his grandchildren, and they didn’t want it, so he got the guy out at Mosgiel in the Mobil petrol station to sell it for him, and he put it on Trade Me for them. We never met the owner, and we were always dealing with the guy at the petrol station. We put a bid on it, and we were the only people that bid on it.”
Their bid was eventually successful, eight years ago. Not knowing much of the history, in situations like that, it’s always a risk buying a car, but they were in for a bit of a surprise.

The other Q car

12 August, 2026

Say the word ‘bond’ to anyone in the street and around 80 per cent straight away think of pop culture’s least-secret secret agent. The other 20 per cent may think of the wad of cash required to secure a flat or hire equipment that one gets back providing the fixtures and fittings stay much as they were.
However, mention ‘bond’ in specialist classic car circles and people will spin a very different yarn. If you dig deep enough, you will find an eccentric British carmaker that, throughout its 23 years in business, spawned some quirky and charming little cars.
The company was founded by Paul Sharp in 1922 under the name of Sharp’s Commercials Limited. However, the company did not start producing cars until 1948. The first car to carry the Bond name was the Bond Minicar. A three-wheeled, soft-top, two-cylinder eco car, the Minicar was a big hit at the time as the desire for an economical urban runabout that didn’t attract four-wheel car tax was strong in post-war Britain. All in all, 34,285 Minicars were produced over 26 years in a variety of variants.