Born: 9 November, 1953, in Annan, Dumfriesshire. Died: 30 March, 2008, in Farnborough, Kent, aged 54.DAVID Leslie jnr was probably best known for his nine wins in the British Touring Car Championship for Vauxhall, Honda and Ni
ssan during the ultra-competitive Super Tourer era in the 1990s.
But for me it was his performance in qualifying for the opening race of the classic 1983 British Formula Three season which puts his talent into perspective. At the wheel of a dreadful car, he took pole position ahead of Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle.
Leslie never joined them in Formula One, maybe because he was too plain speaking for some, but he played a crucial role in the careers of Grand Prix drivers Allan McNish and David Coulthard and Indycar champion Dario Franchitti, for it was he and his father, David, who were entrusted with the delicate task of introducing the young kart racing champions into motor racing proper.
Leslie guided all three young drivers to become Formula Ford Champions, as he had been.
Speaking from his home in Monaco yesterday, McNish said: "Quite honestly, I don't think David or I or Dario would have gone so far in motor sport if it had not been for the help and support we got early on from David and his dad."
Born in Dumfries in 1953, he won his first Scottish karting title at the age of 16, and added another four titles before graduating to cars. Typical of the man, he eschewed the more popular class one karts, in which money can often buy a degree of success, and stuck to the Villiers 210 class, where the equipment is almost identical and driving talent counts most.
Further title success followed in Formula Ford 1600, and by 1981 he was racing in British Formula Three, where he would spend three seasons.
After that he joined Hugh McCaig's rejuvenated Ecurie Ecosse team to contest the C2 class in sports car racing. They won the world title in 1986 and the index of performance at Le Mans the following year.
When the team moved into the British Touring Car Championship, racing Vauxhall Cavaliers, he took his first win in the series at Thruxton in late 1993. His strong form that season earned RML, which ran the Ecurie Ecosse team, a factory Vauxhall deal for 1994.
Leslie spent a single season with Mazda in 1994 before being chosen to lead Honda's assault on the championship in 1995. By 1996, he was regularly winning races in the Accord, but when Honda handed the 1997 programme to Prodrive, Leslie decided to switch to the Mallock-run Nissan team instead.
The Scot played an integral part in reviving Nissan's fortunes after the company's many years of underachievement, and in 1999 the RML Primera became the dominant force in the BTCC. Leslie missed out on the title, however, as his new team-mate Laurent Aiello swept the championship during his only season in the UK, with Leslie taking a career-best second in the standings.
Nissan withdrew its works team the following year, leaving Leslie to mix occasional privateer outings with sports car races until he signed up for Proton's debut in 2002. He was unable to win again in the Team Petronas Impian, but he did take the invariably uncompetitive car to the podium.
His two years with Proton proved to be Leslie's BTCC swan song. He subsequently shared a BMW with Apex Motorsport co-owner Harry Handkammer in the Britcar endurance series, and made several appearances in historic and club events in the UK, including annual outings at the FF1600 Walter Hayes Trophy.
Leslie also became a highly-respected commentator for Eurosport's coverage of the World Touring Car Championship.
The easily approachable and ever helpful Scot continued to race successfully until his death – taking advantage of adverse weather conditions at Silverstone to take an unexpected Britcar victory, sharing a BMW M3 E46 with Handkammer at Silverstone in his final race on 22 March.
Though he didn't like private jets or helicopters, he accepted them as part of life in motor sport and so he was on his way to test Richard Lloyd's Jaguar XKR at Nogaro when the aircraft in which he was travelling crashed on Sunday.
Much of Leslie's popularity was due to the fact that he displayed little or no ego, but he was also a notorious practical joker.
Leslie, who lived near Banbury, Oxfordshire, at the epicentre of the motor sport industry, is survived by his wife, Jane, and two sons.
The full article contains 761 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
