AUSSIE PAIR SET FOR EUROPEAN ROTAX DEBUT NEXT WEEKEND

Pierce Lehane will make his debut in the Euro Rotax Challenge next weekend at the Wackersdorf circuit in Germany (Pic: Real Deal Media)

Rotax Pro Tour points leader Pierce Lehane will be joined by fellow Sydneysider Joseph Burton-Harris when the pair make their debut in the Rotax Euro Challenge at Germany’s Wackersdorf circuit next week (May 9-13).

Lehane, who finished third in the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Final during 2010, will be joining the top line Dan Holland Racing outfit to contest the super competitive Senior Rotax category that will feature 74 drivers.

The 16 year-old will become the first Australian to line-up on the grid in the series since David Sera contested the final round of the 2009 championship.

“I’m extremely excited about travelling to Germany and having the opportunity to race against the best Rotax racers in the world,” said Lehane.

“Entering the weekend I’m being very realistic about my chances, it will be super tough racing over there. There’s probably about 20 drivers who on their day have the potential to win.”

In between cramming his schoolwork in over the past couple of weeks Lehane has spent significant amount of time watching videos in an effort to not only learn the circuit but also his foreign opposition.

“I’ve been pretty much addicted to watching the racing from last year’s Euro Series round at Wackersdorf and also the opening round of this year’s series to study the racing style and seeing which drivers are fast,” said Lehane.

For Burton-Harris, who is a dual Australian and English citizen, the opportunity to race in the Junior Rotax category in Germany was somewhat of a last minute call-up.

He was due to compete in England over the coming weeks but when the opportunity came to race in the Euro Rotax Challenge, he jumped at the chance where he will join the Formula K team for the event.

“The opportunity has come out of the blue, I was originally heading back to England for a few weeks but when this opportunity came up I jumped at it,” said Burton-Harris.

“Since I got the confirmation I’ve been studying the track a lot and even last night spent two hours watching onboard videos and looking at track maps. Ben George, who spent a number of years racing Rotax in Europe, has also been a great help in trying to get me up to speed as soon as possible.”

Lehane jetted out of Australia today while Burton-Harris will fly out tomorrow.

A total of 162 competitors will line-up in next week’s event across the four categories (Senior Rotax, Junior Rotax, DD2 and DD2 Masters) with 29 countries represented.

The Wackersdorf circuit is located in the district of Schwandorf in Bavaria, Germany – approximately 300km South East of Frankfurt.