David Leslie (racing driver)


David Leslie was a Scottish racing driver. He was most associated with the British Touring Car Championship, in which he was runner-up in 1999. He was particularly noted for his development skill, helping both Honda and Nissan become BTCC race winners. He was born in Dumfries, Scotland.

Career

Leslie was Scottish karting champion 5 times before switching to cars, winning the Formula Ford title in 1978. He later moved to the British Formula Three Championship from 1981 to 1984, becoming involved with the Ecurie Ecosse team. With Ecosse, he moved to the World Sportscar Championship, driving to multiple C2 class victories and helping the team earn the 1986 championship. Leslie himself would earn second place in the Drivers Championship in 1987 alongside teammate Ray Mallock. Ecosse eventually took over the Aston Martin sports car program before Leslie departed in 1990 to become part of Tom Walkinshaw's Jaguar team.
Leslie maintained his links with Ecosse when the team moved to the British Touring Car Championship in 1990. He competed on a partial schedule for the first two seasons before becoming a full-time driver for Vauxhall in 1992. He took his first win a year later, and earned a total of six pole positions over those two years, both of which ended in top 10 championship placements.
1994 was an unsuccessful season in a Mazda, but for 1995 he joined Honda as they entered the series for the first time. The car was late getting onto the track in pre-season, and reliability was initially poor, however he finished 10th overall after a strong end to the season. 1996 started badly with several collisions, but a victory in the British Grand Prix support meeting kick-started a strong second half of the season, allowing him to snatch 4th overall at the final round of the season.
For 1997 James Thompson and Gabriele Tarquini raced the Hondas and Leslie switched to Nissan alongside Anthony Reid. Again the car was initially uncompetitive, and much of the credit for its eventual success is widely attributed to Leslie, who finished as runner up to Laurent Aïello in 1999. The company pulled out after that, and Leslie did only occasional races in 2000, and contest the Speedvision Challenge in the US in 2001. He joined Proton in the BTCC for the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but the project was not a great success, and thereafter Leslie provided commentary for Eurosport on the World Touring Car Championship series, although he continued to occasionally participate in the Britcar series.
For the past three years, he had been lecturing Motorsports Management, part-time at Swansea Metropolitan University.
Allan McNish credited the start he, David Coulthard, and Dario Franchitti were given at the start of their careers as largely to Leslie and his late father David senior.

Death

Leslie died on 30 March 2008, when the private jet he was travelling in crashed into a housing estate in Farnborough. He was flying with fellow racing driver and team owner Richard Lloyd and data engineer Chris Allarton. They were travelling to the Nogaro Circuit in France to test for Lloyd's Apex Motorsport in preparation for the FIA GT3 European Championship.
The investigation into the crash found that a combination of incorrectly identified, non-critical system failures led to the in-flight shut-down of both engines, with the crew unable to restart them in time to avoid the impact.

Racing record

Complete British Formula One Championship results

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112131415Pts
1979Graham Eden RacingChevron B41Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8ZOLOULBRHMALSNETHRZANDON
14		OUL
4		NOGMAL
DNS		BRH
Ret		THRSNESIL=17th3

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

Races in bold indicate pole position Races in italics indicate fastest lap * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap
YearTeamCarClass1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526Overall
Pos		PtsClass
Pos
1987John Maguire RacingRover VitesseSILOULTHRTHRSILSILBRHSNEDONOUL
NC‡		DONSILNC0NC
1989Brooklyn MotorsportFord Sierra RS500OULSILTHRDON
DNQ‡		THRSILSILBRHSNEBRHBIRDONSILNC0NC
1990Pyramid MotorsportBMW M3OULDON
7‡		THRSILOULSILBRH
6/NC‡		SNEBRHBIRDONTHR
15		SIL38th126th
1991Auto Trader Techspeed TeamBMW M3SILSNEDONTHRSILBRHSIL
9		DON
1		DON
2		OULBRH
1		BRH
2		DONTHR16th12
1991Pyramid MotorsportBMW M3SIL
4		16th12
1992Ecurie Ecosse VauxhallVauxhall CavalierSIL
7		THR
7		OUL
5		SNE
5		BRH
5		DON
1
6		DON
2
5		SIL
7		KNO
1
Ret		KNO
2
DNS		PEM
7		BRH
1
6		BRH
2
6		DON
10		SIL
3		7th66
1993Ecurie Ecosse VauxhallVauxhall CavalierSIL
Ret		DON
Ret		SNE
3		DON
8		OUL
Ret		BRH
1
18		BRH
2
6		PEM
Ret		SIL
5		KNO
1
9		KNO
2
7		OUL
7		BRH
13		THR
1		DON
1
4		DON
2
8		SIL
4		8th72
1994Team MazdaMazda Xedos 6THR
8		BRH
1
8		BRH
2
11		SNE
17		SIL
1
16		SIL
2
11		OUL
Ret		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
DNS		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
19		SIL
11		KNO
1		KNO
2		OULBRH
1		BRH
2		SIL
1		SIL
2		DON
1		DON
2		20th6
1995Honda Team MSDHonda AccordDON
1
Ret		DON
2
Ret		BRH
1
17		BRH
2
17		THR
1
8		THR
2
12		SIL
1
9		SIL
2
8		OUL
1
DNS		OUL
2
DNS		BRH
1
12		BRH
2
18		DON
1
7		DON
2
9		SIL
12		KNO
1
11		KNO
2
7		BRH
1
17		BRH
2
10		SNE
1
8		SNE
2
8		OUL
1
6		OUL
2
3		SIL
1
5		SIL
2
4		11th61
1996Honda Team MSDHonda AccordDON
1
Ret		DON
2
Ret		BRH
1
10		BRH
2
Ret		THR
1
8		THR
2
5		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
9		OUL
1
8		OUL
2
7		SNE
1
9		SNE
2
Ret		BRH
1
5		BRH
2
7		SIL
1
4		SIL
2
1		KNO
1
6		KNO
2
7		OUL
1
3		OUL
2
2		THR
1
1		THR
2
8		DON
1
2		DON
2
1		BRH
1
3		BRH
2
5		4th159
1997Vodafone Nissan RacingNissan Primera GTDON
1
4		DON
2
11		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
Ret		THR
1
7		THR
2
11		BRH
1
4		BRH
2
3		OUL
1
10		OUL
2
6		DON
1
9		DON
2
Ret		CRO
1
Ret		CRO
2
3		KNO
1
11		KNO
2
Ret		SNE
1
9		SNE
2
6		THR
1
8		THR
2
10		BRH
1
6		BRH
2
8		SIL
1
6		SIL
2
6		8th87
1998Vodafone Nissan RacingNissan Primera GTTHR
1
7		THR
2
12		SIL
1
1		SIL
2
Ret		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
1*		BRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
6		OUL
1
3		OUL
2
Ret		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
2*		CRO
1
Ret		CRO
2
2*		SNE
1
6		SNE
2
4		THR
1
5		THR
2
2		KNO
1
5		KNO
2
9		BRH
1
4		BRH
2
Ret		OUL
1
4		OUL
2
Ret		SIL
1
13		SIL
2
2*		6th148
1999Vodafone Nissan RacingNissan Primera GTDON
1
4		DON
2
Ret		SIL
1
2		SIL
2
7		THR
1
11		THR
2
Ret		BRH
1
6		BRH
2
2		OUL
1
2		OUL
2
8*		DON
1
2		DON
2
1*		CRO
1
2		CRO
2
4		SNE
1
1		SNE
2
2*		THR
1
4		THR
2
1*		KNO
1
9		KNO
2
3		BRH
1
4		BRH
2
2*		OUL
1
2		OUL
2
4*		SIL
1
11		SIL
2
2*		2nd228
2000Redstone Team HondaHonda AccordBRH
1		BRH
2		DON
1		DON
2		THR
1
6		THR
2
Ret		KNO
1		KNO
2		OUL
1		OUL
2		SIL
1		SIL
2		CRO
1		CRO
2		SNE
1		SNE
2		12th15
2000PRO MotorsportNissan Primera GT '00DON
1
7		DON
2
10		BRH
1		BRH
2		OUL
1		OUL
2		SIL
1
6		SIL
2
Ret		12th15
2002Petronas Syntium ProtonProton ImpianBRH
1
Ret		BRH
2
Ret		OUL
1
8		OUL
2
3		THR
1
9		THR
2
9		SIL
1
3		SIL
2
9		MON
1
3		MON
2
11		CRO
1
2		CRO
2
7		SNE
1
5		SNE
2
Ret		KNO
1
9		KNO
2
8*		BRH
1
9		BRH
2
Ret		DON
1
6		DON
2
6		7th79
2003Petronas Syntium ProtonProton ImpianMON
1
5		MON
2
9		BRH
1
9		BRH
2
6		THR
1
17		THR
2
8		SIL
1
Ret		SIL
2
10		ROC
1
11		ROC
2
Ret		CRO
1
9		CRO
2
19		SNE
1
Ret		SNE
2
9		BRH
1
9		BRH
2
8		DON
1
Ret		DON
2
Ret		OUL
1
Ret		OUL
2
DNS		11th28

‡ Endurance driver

Complete Swedish Touring Car Championship results

YearTeamCar12345678910111213141516DCPts
2000P.R.O. MotorsportNissan Primera GTKAR
1		KAR
2		KNU
1		KNU
2		MAN
1		MAN
2		FAL
1		FAL
2		AND
1		AND
2		ARC
1		ARC
2		KAR
1		KAR
2		MAN
1
Ret		MAN
2
Ret		NC0

24 Hours of Spa results

Complete British GT Championship results

YearTeamCarClass123456789101112PosPoints
2000NCK MotorsportMarcos LM600GTTHR
1
CRO
1
3		OUL
1
2		DON
1
7		SIL
1
Ret		BRH
1
Ret		DON
1
7		CRO
1
SIL
1
SNE
1
8		SPA
1
SIL
1
14th39