David William Leslie (9 November 1953 – 30 March 2008) was a British 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

Karting and junior formulas

Leslie was a five-time Scottish karting champion before switching to cars, winning the Formula Ford title in 1978. In 1980, he raced a Ralt RT4 in Formula Atlantic for Hope Scott Garage in Currie, Midlothian. He later moved to the British Formula Three Championship from 1981 to 1984, becoming involved with the Ecurie Ecosse team.

Sportscar racing

With Ecosse, Leslie 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. Leslie and the team also finished second in the C2 class and eighth overall in the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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 competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans a total of ten times, including driving the works Jaguar XJ220 in 1993 alongside Win Percy and Armin Hahne, only to retire with engine failure while in contention for the lead of the GT class.

One-make racing

In 1985, Ecosse ran Leslie in the ESSO MG Metro Challenge.

Leslie raced in the Honda CR-X Challenge in 1988 and 1989.

Touring car racing and GTs

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-ten championship placements.

1994 was an unsuccessful season in a Mazda, but for 1995, Leslie 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 fourth overall at the final round of the season.

For the BTCC in 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. In 1998, he achieved two victories and five podiums for Nissan, finishing seventh in the standings. He also did a one-off appearance in the British GT Championship that same year at the British Grand Prix supporting race, finishing third in a Porsche 911 GT1 shared with Matt Neal. In 1999, he finished a close runner up in the championship standings to teammate Laurent Aïello, with three race wins and 10 podiums.

The company pulled out after that, and Leslie did only occasional races in 2000. Notably, for the works Honda team in one round of the 2000 European Super Touring Cup and one round of the 2000 British Touring Car Championship. He also did two further BTCC rounds that season in the private PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera and competed in the final round of the 2000 Swedish Touring Car Championship. He competed at the Spa 24 Hours that same year, sharing a Honda Accord with James Kaye and Mark Lemmer, but retired with engine failure. He also drove for Marcos in the 2000 British GT Championship for a select number of rounds, finishing on the podium at Croft. He contested the Speedvision Challenge in the US during 2001 in addition to another outing in the British GT Championship (Knockhill), once again in a Marcos and finishing on the class podium.

Leslie joined Proton in the BTCC for the 2002 and 2003 seasons, but the project was not a great success. He did, however, manage to secure two third-place results and was the best-placed Proton in both seasons. 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, Leslie 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. Allan McNish interview part 2 on qosfc.com

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 (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pts 1979 Graham Eden Racing Chevron B41 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ZOL OUL BRH MAL SNE THR ZAN DON OUL NOG MAL BRH THR SNE SIL =17th 3

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded – 1996–2002 all races, 2003 just in first race) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded – 2000–2003 all races) * signifies that driver lead race for at least one lap (1 point awarded – 1998–2002 just for feature race, 2003 all races)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 OverallPos Pts ClassPos 1987 John Maguire Racing Rover Vitesse SIL OUL THR THR SIL SIL BRH SNE DON OULNC‡ DON SIL NC 0 NC 1989 Brooklyn Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500 OUL SIL THR DONDNQ‡ THR SIL SIL BRH SNE BRH BIR DON SIL NC 0 NC 1990 Pyramid Motorsport BMW M3 OUL DONovr:7‡cls:2‡ THR SIL OUL SIL BRHovr:6/NC‡cls:3/NC‡ SNE BRH BIR DON THRovr:15cls:10 SIL 38th 1 26th 1991 Auto TraderTechspeed Team BMW M3 SIL SNE DON THR SIL BRH SIL9 DON1 DON2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 DON THR 16th 12 Pyramid Motorsport SIL4 1992 Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Vauxhall Cavalier SIL7 THR7 OUL5 SNE5 BRH5 DON16 DON25 SIL7 KNO1Ret KNO2DNS PEM7 BRH16 BRH26 DON10 SIL3 7th 66 1993 Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Vauxhall Cavalier SILRet DONRet SNE3 DON8 OULRet BRH118 BRH26 PEMRet SIL5 KNO19 KNO27 OUL7 BRH13 THR1 DON14 DON28 SIL4 8th 72 1994 Team Mazda Mazda Xedos 6 THR8 BRH18 BRH211 SNE17 SIL116 SIL211 OULRet DON1Ret DON2DNS BRH1Ret BRH219 SIL11 KNO1 KNO2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 20th 6 1995 Honda Team MSD Honda Accord DON1Ret DON2Ret BRH117 BRH217 THR18 THR212 SIL19 SIL28 OUL1DNS OUL2DNS BRH112 BRH218 DON17 DON29 SIL12 KNO111 KNO27 BRH117 BRH210 SNE18 SNE28 OUL16 OUL23 SIL15 SIL24 11th 61 1996 Honda Team MSD Honda Accord DON1Ret DON2Ret BRH110 BRH2Ret THR18 THR25 SIL13 SIL29 OUL18 OUL27 SNE19 SNE2Ret BRH15 BRH27 SIL14 SIL21 KNO16 KNO27 OUL13 OUL22 THR11 THR28 DON12 DON21 BRH13 BRH25 4th 159 1997 Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT DON14 DON211 SIL13 SIL2Ret THR17 THR211 BRH14 BRH23 OUL110 OUL26 DON19 DON2Ret CRO1Ret CRO23 KNO111 KNO2Ret SNE19 SNE26 THR18 THR210 BRH16 BRH28 SIL16 SIL26 8th 87 1998 Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT THR17 THR212 SIL11 SIL2Ret DON1Ret DON21* BRH1Ret BRH26 OUL13 OUL2Ret DON1Ret DON22* CRO1Ret CRO22* SNE16 SNE24 THR15 THR22* KNO15 KNO29 BRH14 BRH2Ret OUL14 OUL2Ret SIL113 SIL22* 6th 148 1999 Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT DON14 DON2Ret SIL12 SIL27 THR111 THR2Ret BRH16 BRH22 OUL12 OUL28* DON12 DON21* CRO12 CRO24 SNE11 SNE22* THR14 THR21* KNO19 KNO23 BRH14 BRH22* OUL12 OUL24* SIL111 SIL22* 2nd 228 2000 Redstone Team Honda Honda Accord BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 THR1ovr:6cls:6 THR2Ret KNO1 KNO2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 12th 15 PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera GT '00 DON1ovr:7cls:7 DON2ovr:10cls:10 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1ovr:6cls:6 SIL2Ret 2002 Petronas Syntium Proton Proton Impian BRH1Ret BRH2Ret OUL1ovr:8cls:8 OUL2ovr:3cls:3 THR1ovr:9cls:9 THR2ovr:9cls:9 SIL1ovr:3cls:3 SIL2ovr:9cls:9 MON1ovr:3cls:3 MON2ovr:11cls:11 CRO1ovr:2cls:2 CRO2ovr:7cls:7 SNE1ovr:5cls:5 SNE2Ret KNO1ovr:9cls:9 KNO2ovr:8*cls:8 BRH1ovr:9cls:9 BRH2Ret DON1ovr:6cls:6 DON2ovr:6cls:6 7th 79 2003 Petronas Syntium Proton Proton Impian MON1ovr:5cls:5 MON2ovr:9cls:9 BRH1ovr:9cls:9 BRH2ovr:6cls:6 THR1ovr:17cls:13 THR2ovr:8cls:8 SIL1Ret SIL2ovr:10cls:10 ROC1ovr:11cls:11 ROC2Ret CRO1ovr:9cls:9 CRO2ovr:19cls:14 SNE1Ret SNE2ovr:9cls:9 BRH1ovr:9cls:9 BRH2ovr:8cls:8 DON1Ret DON2Ret OUL1Ret OUL2DNS 11th 28

‡ Endurance driver (Ineligible for points in 1990)

Complete Swedish Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Pts 2000 PRO Motorsport Nissan Primera GT KAR1 KAR2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 FAL1 FAL2 AND1 AND2 ARC1 ARC2 KAR1 KAR2 MAN1Ret MAN2Ret NC 0

Complete European Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 2000 JAS Engineering Honda Accord MUG1 MUG2 PER1 PER2 A1R1 A1R2 MNZ1 MNZ2 HUN1 HUN2 IMO1 IMO2 MIS1 MIS2 BRN1 BRN2 VAL1 VAL2 MOB110 MOB25 18th 9

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1984 Ecurie Ecosse David Duffield Mike Wilds Ecosse C284-Ford Cosworth C2 36 DNF DNF 1985 Ecurie Ecosse Ray Mallock Mike Wilds Ecosse C285-Ford Cosworth C2 45 DNF DNF 1986 Ecurie Ecosse Ray Mallock Mike Wilds Ecosse C286-Austin-Rover C2 181 DSQ DSQ 1987 Ecurie Ecosse Marc Duez Ray Mallock Ecosse C286-Ford Cosworth C2 308 8th 2nd 1988 Mazdaspeed Co. Ltd. Marc Duez Yoshimi Katayama Mazda 767 GTP 330 17th 2nd 1989 Aston Martin Ecurie Ecosse Ray Mallock David Sears Aston Martin AMR1 C1 153 DNF DNF 1990 Silk Cut Jaguar Tom Walkinshaw Racing Martin Brundle Alain Ferté Jaguar XJR-12 C1 220 DNF DNF 1991 TWR Suntec Jaguar Jeff Krosnoff Mauro Martini Jaguar XJR-12 C2 183 DNF DNF 1993 TWR Jaguar Racing Armin Hahne Win Percy Jaguar XJ220 GT 6 DNF DNF 1995 Team Marcos Chris Marsh François Migault Marcos LM600 LMGT2 184 NC NC

24 Hours of Spa results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1993 Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Philippe Adams Bernard de Dryver Vauxhall Cavalier GSi Pro 2L 101/engine DNF DNF 1998 Belgacom Nissan T.U.R.B.O Team Dirk Schoysman Grégoire de Mévius Nissan Primera SP 471 7th 7th 2000 ELR & Barwell Motorsport James Kaye Mark Lemmer Honda AccordSP?/engineDNFDNF

Complete British GT Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points 2000 NCK Motorsport Marcos LM600 GT THR1 CRO1 OUL1 DON1 SIL1 BRH1 DON1 CRO1 SIL1 SNE1 SPA1 SIL1 14th 39

Britcar 24 Hour results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2007 GTS Motorsport Joe Macari Rob Wilson Stuart Wright BMW M3 E46 GTR 26 GTC 553 6th3rd

References

External links

BTCC pages profile David Leslie Online Memorial