He and co-driver Beric Lynton had the opportunity to defend their 2019 6 Hour success if they could maintain less than a five second margin to leader Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen's team had picked up a five second penalty earlier in the event for overtaking under safety car conditions.

But Leahey was also keeping tabs on where third placed David Russell was since he was within reach of unseating him from the runner-up finish.

Leahey tried to keep pace with van Gisbergen after the last safety car of the race returned to pit lane with 40 minutes left to race.

But it took leader van Gisbergen only 13 minutes to push his winning margin beyond the five second mark - a gap that would eventually go beyond 12 seconds at the chequered flag.

Russell came close on one occasion to making a move on Leahey for second place but the Orange driver held firm to score a result he was proud of.

"It was just a hard race, and over that last double stint my tyres were ordinary and the drink tube stopped working so it was physically difficult and it was tough to see at the end with the sun going down," Leahey said.

"At the end of the day I was trying to chase Shane but he's just too good for me. My one race a year just doesn't cut it. I'm still really pleased with the drive. I knew where I was losing it over the top - which was a little bit car and a little bit me - but overall it's a good result.

"Coming second to him is a really good effort."

Van Gisbergen's win, alongside co-drivers Shane Smollen and Rob Rubis, means the Bathurst 6 Hour is still seeking its first multiple winner.

Leahey said it was overall a great day for the garage.

"I'm just annoyed with my teammate because he decided to run two cars and put van Gisbergen in one of them," he joked.

"It's a fantastic result for the team though. It's fantastic for Aaron, who put the cars together, and these are cars that have been bought at auctions as repairable write-offs, converted to race cars. It's a credit to him really."

Van Gisbergen finished the race with the fastest times across sectors one and two but Leahey was able to finish with the best time over the final sector.

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