“Racing in the 24H SERIES gives me such a great head start on the competition: no one will really race in Australia before the start of our season” McLeod told Sports Car 360. “By the time we roll out for practice one in Australia, I’ve already competed the equivalent of two or three rounds of Supercars racing. 

“During these great events, I’ve driven different cars, on different tyres and in varying conditions, so I’ve well and truly blown out all the cobwebs from the off-season, and I hit the track ready to go. It means I’ve been focusing on training, racing and competing for at least a month longer than the people I’m racing against.”

“The 24H SERIES events are so well-organised and run at such a professional level, so it’s a perfect situation for me to place myself in order to be able to perform at a high level against great opposition.”

Ahead of only his second start at the Hankook 24H DUBAI, Mcleod, grandson of 1987 Bathurst 1000 winner Peter, is buoyed by his recent performance at the Hankook 6H ABU DHABI: despite completing only six laps during Free Practice, and although he’d never raced a Porsche 992 GT3 Cup before last weekend, the young Aussie posted the fastest lap, in his category, during his 15-minute qualifying run – a 1m 58.245s – and the third quickest lap of any 992 runner across the full session. Recurrent delays relating to the bodywork unfortunately meant the #937 KKrämer Racing Porsche eventually finished 7th in-class, though Mcleod reinforced his speed by setting the car’s fastest lap during his opening stint. 

A similarly mature drive this weekend would prove equally beneficial to both Simpson Motorsport and teammate Fabian Duffieux, who go into the 24H SERIES Middle East Trophy title finale at the top of the GT4 Teams’ and GT4 Drivers’ standings respectively. 

“Whilst I didn’t get many laps in practice, I did get to qualify and start the race in the car, which was a great opportunity afforded to me by the team,” Mcleod continues. “It was great experience and I raced for more than two hours over the two stints I was in the car. I’m very thankful to Karsten and his KKramer team for giving me the opportunity.”

Asked whether he can carry momentum into this weekend’s Hankook 24H DUBAI, in a different class and now aboard a BMW M4 GT4, Mcleod explained that a good performance at the Dubai Autodrome could prove crucial to his hopes of moving further up the ladder to Australia’s Supercar Championship.