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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

Coaching from the bench: Casting plastic knobs and rubber parts

16 July, 2026

Casting rubber items is simple if you have a good original to work with. The item doesn’t have to be perfect. You can use plasticine to smooth out cracks, and you can even make whole prototypes out of low-fire modelling clay available from craft stores if you need to. Prototypes can also be made of wood or metal.
You will need mould dams to contain the liquid urethane moulding solution until it cures. You can build boxes out of strips of wood, but I have found that small plastic boxes and bowls such as those you would use for leftovers in your fridge work well if you spray them with a mould release agent.
Temperature is important to the chemical processes involved, so work in an area that can be maintained at around 20 degrees. You will also need adequate ventilation because the fumes can be dangerous to breathe. And you will want to wear latex gloves to protect your hands.

Fraser Cars – low flying into the fourth decade

10 July, 2026

With almost three and a half decades under its belt, Fraser Cars is one of New Zealand’s longest-surviving car manufacturers. The company first opened its doors for business in 1988, during the boom time for kit manufacturers. During the ’80s, around 40 different companies were building kits and turnkey cars for this niche market. Of those, only Fraser and Almac Cars (established 1981) are still in business today.
Most of the new kit car companies were killed off in the cradle by the threat of new legislation that never eventuated and definitively by the sudden availability of high-performance Japanese cars when the floodgates to second-hand imports were opened. The now long-retired founder of the company, Neil Fraser, first came across Lotus Seven replicas while racing Lotus Cortinas in the early ’80s. He regularly found himself racing against a little Caterham, a Lotus Seven–styled car built in England. He was very impressed by its simplicity and handling. In 1986 Fraser built his own Lotus Seven–type car, using the knowledge he had gained from several close looks at the Caterham.