PIERCE LEHANE LANDS EURO ROTAX PODIUM

Pierce Lehane (left) on the podium at the Rotax Max Euro Challenge in Italy (Pic: RGMMC Media)

Australian Pierce Lehane secured his first Rotax Max Euro Challenge podium result in Italy on Sunday.

Lehane, who is based in England while driving for the Dan Holland Racing team during 2014, finished second behind British driver Harry Webb at the 7 Laghi International Kart Circuit in Castelletto.

Lehane qualified eighth fastest in the 63-driver field on Friday before enjoying a consistent run during the heat races, which included a win in his final heat, to be fifth in the standings heading into the pre-final.

The Sydney-sider then finished fourth in the pre-final behind the Strawberry Racing trio headed by Webb to secure a second row start for the final.

After dropping back to tenth at the start of the final, Lehane fought back to throughout the 19-lap encounter to claim the runner-up spot behind the dominant Webb.

The podium rockets Lehane back into Championship contention after two races in the four-event Challenge.

“It was an extremely tough weekend as we lacked some speed early in the weekend, but the entire Dan Holland Racing team worked extremely hard all weekend to find the speed required,” said Lehane.

“After a solid pre-final where I finished fourth, I got shuffled back to tenth because I got caught on the outside at the start of the final.

“I made up a few positions and kept pushing toward the front and eventually finished second. It feels great to finally get on the podium and this great result puts us right back into the championship hunt now which is extremely important!”

Lehane now returns to England where next weekend he and the Dan Holland Racing team will be testing a the PF International circuit before competing in the next round of the Super One Series at the Larkhall circuit in Scotland on the first weekend in July.