When Scottish hot shot David Leslie joined Mirko Racing this year, the competition in the Speedvision World Challenge Touring Car class suddenly got stiffer. Leslie is a two-time FF2000 champion. He has raced in F3 and works Jaguars at Le Mans. Since 1990, hes been in and out of several British Touring Car Championship Series. In 1999, he took four poles and three wins while driving for Nissan.
1. What has been your best racing moment? Ive been racing for 26 years, how can I remember one moment out of 26 years? Theres been lots of them. Not always big races. Not always when winning. Sometimes youre just out there having fun. I can remember having a great race at a little circuit in Scotland called Ingles and I was driving somebody elses car I had never driven before. I spent more time going sideways than I did going straight. So, it was good fun. Things like that I like.
2. When did you decide to start racing? When I was 12 and a half years old, I started kartinggo kartsin Scotland. And then I started motor racing after that in 1976. And Ive been motor racing since then.
3. What do you find is the hardest part of the job? Trying to raise the necessary finances to go racing.
4. If you had an anthem, what would that song be? I havent got the faintest idea. Music and I dont go together very well. Im tone deaf. I couldnt sing to save my life. No idea for a theme song.
5. How do you feel about the French? The French! Theyre okay as long as they stay home.
6. Do you have any pre-race rituals? No, none whatsoever. I dont go and lie down. I dont go and meditate. I dont do anything silly. I dont disappear. I talk to everybody. Im not going to develop problems before a race. Ive been doing it for a while now, so it doesnt bother me anymore.
7. Whats your favorite track and why? Spa Francochamps in Belgium because its a superb circuit. Its more than four miles long. Its got every conceivable corner you could wish for. Its got fast bits, and its got Eau Rouge which is really, really fast with a small lift. Youve got hair pins, youve got chicanes. Youve got bloody fast left-handers, bloody fast right-handers. You name it, its got it. Its fantastic.
7.5. Do you have an Eau Rouge story? Mine is not so much about me as its about the car I was driving. It was a two-driver race, and my teammate in practice managed to fall off the top of Eau Rouge and did a lot of damage to the car. The mechanics had to work right through the night to get it back together. And during the race, I was out there trying to do well and I ended up spinning the car in the same place. Luckily, I didnt hit the wall.
8. What is the best thing in life? More racing.
9. What do you feel your strengths are as a driver? My ability to set up a car. Ive been driving a long time, so I understand cars very well. I have a background in cars, so I understand how they work and what to do to make them better. Im known because: A) Im quick and B) I can take a new car and change it from something that doesnt work very well to something that works very well quite quickly.
10. How do you work on your driving? The more driving the bettersimple as that really. Theres no special way around it. I try to keep fit, so when I get here I can do the job properly. But theres no substitute for driving a car. The more time you spend in a car, the better youll be.
10 Questions: Neal Sapp
Last season, Neal Sapp sealed up Rookie of the Year honors going into the final race in San Diego. But that wasnt enough, he went out and took his first ever World Challenge win in San Diego to come in Second in the final points championship. This year he has switched over from TCKline Racing to DuPont Racing. He remains in a BMW but believes that his current ride is faster than his 328ci from a year ago.
1. What has been your best racing moment? My best racing moment would probably be the last race of the year [2000] down at San Diego where we got our first win. It was a challenging street course because of the walls. No room for error. We ran strong and won the race. Out of the year, that was definitely one of the best moments.
2. When did you decide to go racing? I started autocross racing back in 1986 and did that for quite some time. Then in 1994 I switched to road racing. I wanted to do it before that, but its expensive to road race. I just kind of came up through the ranks. I did SCCA Regionals, Nationals, then dabbled in the Pro a little bit with the Neon Challenge Pro series where we had some success. And then World Challenge last year.
3. Whats the hardest part of the job? Getting to the race [Laughs]. Just getting the cars all prepped, getting them set up properly, getting everything ready. The driving is the fun part.
4. If you had an anthem, what would that song be? The Neal Sapp anthem? Wow, I need to think about that one. You got me on a blank there. Maybe that Rocky theme song.
5. How do you feel about the French? [Long pause] I dont know much about the French. I havent had to deal with the French that much. I havent been over to France.
6. Do you have any pre-race rituals? Not really. No.
7. What is your favorite track and why? Thats a real tough one because I enjoy almost all of them. I havent come across too many that I didnt like. I like a change, so I really enjoy going to a new track regardless of what it is. Its a challenge. In the autocross, we used to have to do a different course every Sunday, so it was kind of exciting. Every time I go to a new track, I really enjoy that.
8. What is the best thing in life? Right now, I have a nice family, two healthy little girls, and things are going well. Im doing what I love to do, so Id have to say thats it.
9. What are your strengths as a driver? I keep a level head. Im a thinking driver. I try to be smooth.
10. How do you work on your driving? After I do a session, I sit down and go through that lap in my mind and think what I could possibly do at each turn to pick up a tenth here and there. The tracks are quite large, so if you could pick up a tenth [at each turn] there on a twelve turn course, you can find quite a bit of time.