David Leslie and Richard Lloyd reported killed in Kent plane crash

[nickliv]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/66244

RIP

[Chris24]

Very sad news indeed. I always liked David Lesley, he was a hard racer, and a nice chap to boot. I will miss his commentary on the sports car racing on Eurosport. I only met Richard Lloyd once and he too was a nice gentleman and a big name from sports car history.

R.I.P Gentleman

[geoffd]

Very sad news indeed.

I was lucky enough to meet David a few times and he was always happy to talk, and was a great down to earth family man too.  One of the best photo's we have of him is in a garage at Silverstone at the Walter Hayes Trophy a couple of years ago where he is sharing a sandwich with Martin Short!  Both natural honest blokes.  David will be greatly missed, as will Richard, I never met him but have followed his team through British Saloons and 956/962's.

My condolences go out to Jane and John Leslie and both familes, they are in my thoughts today.

[Ruptured Duck Motorsport]

Very sad news.  RIP David.  Great racer and decent bloke.  Spent quite some time chatting to him in the Grp C support race paddock a few years back.  Came accross as genuine and a nice man.

[nickliv]

David Leslie was racing karts at the same time as my old man. When Dad broke his leg, David borrowed the kart for a couple of months. It was never the same afterwards. I mentioned this to him at a BTCC race about 10 years ago, and he took the time out of autograph signing to have a chat about his early years, and my dads antics in particular.

I can never look at a 4 door cav without seeing the st andrews cross on the roof.

Thanks for the memories Dave.

[Bobblehat]

Very sad news.

Met David a few times, first time was a LM when he was driving the the Royal Mail Spicer, we all sang Postman Pat to him, he told us to F off!! Then reliased that Tom's (he took a bit of intreset in Toms racing) younger brother, Micheal, was with us and he was a little embarssed apoligised very quickly, a very down to earth bloke.

Unfortunatly never met Richard, his busness is only up the road from my house used to see the LM Bentleys parked up, next to the council rubbish dump, always made me smile!

RIP

[Christopher]

A few words on both, again from Autosport.


Richard Lloyd, 1945-2008

Richard Lloyd enjoyed incredible success both as a driver and a team boss during his four decades in motorsport.

He started racing in 1967 in a Triumph TR4 and went on to become a three times class title winner in the British Touring Car Championship as he established himself as one of the leading drivers in the series. In 1977 he expanded his repertoire by creating his own team - GTi Engineering.

The following season was his most successful in the BTCC as a driver, finishing second overall in the championship in a self-developed Volkswagen Golf GTi.

The team continued to run in the BTCC until 1980 - famously running Stirling Moss in an Audi 80 that year - before moving into sportscars in 1981. Lloyd and tin-top legend Andy Rouse claimed a class win in the Brands Hatch 1000kms that year for Porsche, and in 1983 became one of the first privateer teams to run the Porsche 956 Group C car.

The Canon-backed team enjoyed great success with the 956 and its successor, the 962 during the 1980s, famously winning the Brands Hatch 1000kms with Jan Lammers and Jonathan Palmer in 1984.

Now called Richard Lloyd Racing, the team also starred at Le Mans in 1985, finishing second with Lloyd himself driving alongside Palmer and James Weaver. A year later, RLR, now backed by Liqui Moly, claimed their second world championship race win, again at Brands Hatch, with Mauro Baldi and Bob Wollek.

Lloyd's team continued in the World Sportscar Championship until 1990, claiming another victory at the Norisring in 1987, only to have to pull out because of a sponsorship shortfall before the 1991 season.

After dropping out of sportscars, the team returned to lower key projects, with Lloyd winning the British Porsche 924 Championship in 1993, but soon returned to prominence. They ran the factory Audi Sport UK team in the British Touring Car Championship and took the title with Frank Biela and the A4 Quattro in 1996.

When Audi pulled out of the BTCC at the end of 1998, the team turned their attention to sportscars once again, developing and running the Audi R8 Coupe for Le Mans before switching to Volkswagen Audi Group sister brand Bentley for 2001. Lloyd also continued his assocation with Audi, building and developing the Audi S4s which were hugely successful in North American tin-top racing.

After a superb third place on the marque's Le Mans comeback in 2001, Lloyd's team, now named Apex Motorsport, finally won the great race in 2003.

Lloyd continued to appear occasionally as a driver in historic events, but wound down his team prior to it being revived in 2006 to develop and run the factory-blessed Jaguar XKR in the FIA GT3 Championship.



David Leslie, 1953-2008

David Leslie was best known for his nine wins in the British Touring Car Championship for Vauxhall, Honda and Nissan during the ultra-competitive Super Tourer era in the 1990s, but by the time he arrived in saloons he had already enjoyed a long and successful career in single-seaters and sportscars.

Born in Dumfries in 1953, Leslie won his first Scottish karting title at the age of 16, and would add another four championships before graduating to car racing.

Further title success followed in BARC Formula Ford 1600, and by 1981 he was racing in British Formula 3, where he would spend three seasons.

In the late 1980s Leslie became a regular in the C2 class of the World Sportscar Championship, taking Ecurie Ecosse to second in the 1987 class championship while co-driving with his future BTCC team boss Ray Mallock.

He would also represent the famous Scottish outfit in the BTCC. Following several near-misses and frustrations, he took his first win in the Ecosse Vauxhall Cavalier 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 Leslie 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 teammate Laurent Aiello swept the championship during his only season in the UK. Leslie meanwhile took a career-best second in the standings.

Nissan withdrew their works team the following year, leaving Leslie to mix occasional privateer outings with sportscar 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 swansong. 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 hugely popular 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 March 22.

[termietermite]

What dreadful news.  I too have had the privelege of speaking to both these guys - so pleasant and down to earth as well as talented.  Cr*p.  How many drivers (and other good people for that matter) have been lost or badly injured in light aircraft disasters?  What a terrible loss.

http://www.motorstv.com/site/home.php?content=1&sec=contenu&Idarbo1=5&id=16005&lg=2

[Nordic]

Awful news, when I heard the news last night about the crash, my first thought was that it may involve a driver or team as the btcc was taking place nearby.

Both these two always came across as genuine fans of the sport and will leave a large void in the lives of those who knew them.

[Boorish Grobian]

Terrible loss, two good blokes who went racing for all the right reasons.  RIP Richard & David.
fax

[Piglet]

I got a "heads up" on this last evening from a friend and have been trying to find words to describe it ever since.

I didn't know Richard, I imagine I had come across him at various race meetings.  I had met and chatted with David though on a lots of occasions, he was always friendly at sign on, he would always chat whenever you saw him - I doubt he knew my name but he always had time to pass the time of day.   KK and I met him in Auchan at LM and chatted by the fish counter for some time a couple of years ago.

He was with us at the F3/GT meeting at Oulton Park last weekend, it seems unbelievable that last Monday I gave him my lunch bag and this Monday he is not with us at all...

Such desperately sad news for all of us but how horrendous for all of the families involved, including the young chap and the crew. 

Value what you've got guys...it's taken away so easily...

[nickliv]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8695987.stm

A rivet. A bloody rivet.

[JDS]

Terrible as such a tragedy is, I think that it is amazing that after such a crash and subsequent fire the investigators can deduce such things - quite a science.