"I spent my early days in Formula Fords thrashing around here. More recently I have spent time at Highlands where I worked fulltime but this is still my favourite track on the calendar."
Aside from his intricate knowledge of the circuit Leitch will also be spurred on by a home crowd full of friends and family.
"It is pretty cool. There are 20,000 people that come and watch so to win in front of the home crowd is pretty special.
"The first time I won here in the Toyota Racing Series was the first win I'd had in a wings and slicks car and I was the first Kiwi to win the Spirit of the Nation Trophy and I'm still the only one to date.
"It was pretty impressive at the time doing it against Lance Stroll, who is a current Formula 1 driver."
Leitch's first two races at the opening weekend were ruined by mechanical drama.
"On Saturday we had clutch failure unfortunately," he explained.
"We somehow managed to get the car off the line slowly. We managed to finish the race but I made a couple of silly mistakes that dropped us right back down the field after I had charged through and passed about six cars.
"Then on Sunday morning we had a suspension failure and unfortunately had a DNF there.
We finished the meeting with a fourth place and just missed out on a podium. I had my pace back and the fire in my belly."
Despite languishing outside the top 10 in the standings as a result of the dramas Leitch doesn't thin his title hopes have been dashed.
"I have lots of confidence in the car and the team. It is definitely not over until the fat lady sings.
"The guys at the front are fast but they are also human and capable of making mistakes themselves. I will be working as hard as I can to claw as many points back as I can.
"I will look to really maximize this weekend being one of the strongest for me on the calendar."
