Motor racing stars mourn guru Leslie

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to a Scot who helped launch the careers of racing drivers Dario Franchitti, David Coulthard and Allan McNish.

Former kart driver David Leslie snr passed away, at 84, on Sunday, after a long illness.

His death comes more than three years after his son David, a British Touring Car racer, died in a tragic plane crash.

The father and son team, from Dumfries, ran the David Leslie Racing Team, a breeding ground for Scotland’s greatest motor-racing stars.

They were tasked with helping Indy Car champion Franchitti, Formula One star Coulthard and Le Mans winner McNish to make the transformation from karting to motor racing proper. Leslie guided all three young drivers to become Formula Ford champions.

Yesterday Franchitti said: “Rest in peace father David Leslie. A great man just like his son, very sad they’re both gone.”

A spokesman for the British Racing Drivers Club said: “It is with regret that the club has to announce the death of David Leslie Snr.

“David snr was a pivotal figure in Scottish motor racing and he played an important part in the formative careers of many of Scotland’s motor-racing stars of the last 30 years or so.”