31-03-2008, 03:24 PM
:sad:
David Leslie, who has died at the age of 54, was one of the stars of the British Touring Car Championship during the hugely popular Super Touring era of the 1990s.
The Scot was a multiple title-winner in kartingearly in his career securing five Scottish Karting crowns before moving into single-seaters, where he secured further title glory in both Formula Ford and F2000 in the late 1970's.
From there, Leslie moved into Formula Three and then into Sportscars, running with the Ecurie Ecosse team in the World Sportscar Championship where he finished second in the C2 Class in 1987 - and competing at Le Mans with Mazda.
Having made the move into the BTCCwith a BMWin 1990 and 1991, Leslie was then reunited with the Ecosse team in 1992 in a Vauxhall Cavalier.
His first seaspn with the team saw him start on pole position twice and finish seventh in the championship standings while a year later he tasted BTCC victory for the first time on his way to eighth in the standings.
For 1994, Leslie moved over to Mazda but only ran selected races due to budgetary issues, before a full-time return to the series in 1995 spearheading Honda's challenge with the new Accord.
After a year of development with the car, Leslie was in a position to fight for honours in 1996 and took the team's first victory in the British Grand Prixsupport race at Silverstone.
Three wins over the course of the year gave him what was then a personal best finish of fourth in the championship standings.
A new challenge lay ahead for 1997 as Leslie moved to Nissan, a team that had endured years of underachievement to that point. The Scot ran alongside his countryman Anthony Reid for two seasons before being joined in 1999 by Frenchman Laurent Aiello.
The Primera was the dominant force over the course of the year and Leslie won on three occasions to finish second behind Aiello in the championship standings. Nissanalso picked up the manufacturers' title before electing to bow out of the BTCC on a high.
Selected races in the BTCC and sportscars over the following years was followed by a full-time return to the touring car scene in 2002 for Proton, as the Malaysian marque moved into the series for the first time.
Two-seasons with the under-funded Impian yielded a best finish of second at Croftin 2003 before the curtain came down on Leslie's time in the BTCC after a career that had given him nine wins, 35 podiums and 16 poles from 220 starts.
Even after departing the BTCC, Leslie remained active on the racing scene, contesting a number of events at historic and club level, including outings in the Walter Hayes Trophy each year at Silverstone.
He also joined forces with Harry Handkammer to race a BMW in the Britcar Series, and it was in Britcar where he took his final victory on 22 March this year - alongside Handkammer - at Silverstonedespite atrocious weather conditions.
Leslie was also a respected commentator for Eurosport on its coverage of the World Touring Car Championship.
He leaves a wife and two sons.
RIP
David Leslie, who has died at the age of 54, was one of the stars of the British Touring Car Championship during the hugely popular Super Touring era of the 1990s.
The Scot was a multiple title-winner in kartingearly in his career securing five Scottish Karting crowns before moving into single-seaters, where he secured further title glory in both Formula Ford and F2000 in the late 1970's.
From there, Leslie moved into Formula Three and then into Sportscars, running with the Ecurie Ecosse team in the World Sportscar Championship where he finished second in the C2 Class in 1987 - and competing at Le Mans with Mazda.
Having made the move into the BTCCwith a BMWin 1990 and 1991, Leslie was then reunited with the Ecosse team in 1992 in a Vauxhall Cavalier.
His first seaspn with the team saw him start on pole position twice and finish seventh in the championship standings while a year later he tasted BTCC victory for the first time on his way to eighth in the standings.
For 1994, Leslie moved over to Mazda but only ran selected races due to budgetary issues, before a full-time return to the series in 1995 spearheading Honda's challenge with the new Accord.
After a year of development with the car, Leslie was in a position to fight for honours in 1996 and took the team's first victory in the British Grand Prixsupport race at Silverstone.
Three wins over the course of the year gave him what was then a personal best finish of fourth in the championship standings.
A new challenge lay ahead for 1997 as Leslie moved to Nissan, a team that had endured years of underachievement to that point. The Scot ran alongside his countryman Anthony Reid for two seasons before being joined in 1999 by Frenchman Laurent Aiello.
The Primera was the dominant force over the course of the year and Leslie won on three occasions to finish second behind Aiello in the championship standings. Nissanalso picked up the manufacturers' title before electing to bow out of the BTCC on a high.
Selected races in the BTCC and sportscars over the following years was followed by a full-time return to the touring car scene in 2002 for Proton, as the Malaysian marque moved into the series for the first time.
Two-seasons with the under-funded Impian yielded a best finish of second at Croftin 2003 before the curtain came down on Leslie's time in the BTCC after a career that had given him nine wins, 35 podiums and 16 poles from 220 starts.
Even after departing the BTCC, Leslie remained active on the racing scene, contesting a number of events at historic and club level, including outings in the Walter Hayes Trophy each year at Silverstone.
He also joined forces with Harry Handkammer to race a BMW in the Britcar Series, and it was in Britcar where he took his final victory on 22 March this year - alongside Handkammer - at Silverstonedespite atrocious weather conditions.
Leslie was also a respected commentator for Eurosport on its coverage of the World Touring Car Championship.
He leaves a wife and two sons.
RIP
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