An investigation into the aircraft accident which killed Scots racer David Leslie and team boss Richard Lloyd more than two years ago, has concluded the plane in which they were travelling may have suffered an inadvertent engine shutdown prior to the crash.
Annan-born Leslie (54), a multiple winner in the British Touring Car Championship, was responsible for the early development of several Scottish drivers including F1 winner David Coulthard, Indy500 winner Dario Franchitti and Le Mans 24-Hours winner Allan McNish.
Leslie, who lived in Banbury, had been travelling with Apex Motorsport team boss Lloyd and engineer Christopher Allarton to Pau in France to test the team’s Jaguar XKR at Nogaro.
But within minutes of their Cessna Citation 500 taking off from Biggin Hill in Kent, on March 30, 2008, the plane crashed into a residential house. Fortunately the occupants were away on holiday.
The pilots, Mike Roberts and Michael Chapman, who also died in the crash, were praised as heroes for preventing the aircraft from crashing into a field where children were playing.
The Air Accident Investigations Branch (AAIB) reported that a “missing rivet head on the left engine fuel shut-off lever” may have contributed to the engine shutdown, and that 70 seconds prior to impact neither of the aircraft’s engines were producing any thrust.
One of the pilots also reported engine vibrations — probably caused by a “failure within the air cycle machine” — shortly after take-off and immediately issued a mayday call.
He indicated they were returning to land the plane immediately, but crashed on approach two miles north of the airport as one of the pilots reported a “major problem”.
Leslie’s racing career spanned more than 30 years and came to public prominence with his nine wins in the BTCC for Vauxhall, Honda and Nissan during the super-tourer era of the 1990s. He finished second in the 1999 title race behind Frenchman Laurent Aiello’s Nissan.
In 1993, Leslie miraculously walked away unscathed from a high-speed crash at Knockhill in Fife in which his Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Cavalier somersaulted over a tyre wall. The tight left-hander, at the foot of Duffus Dip, was named ‘Leslie’s” in honour of the amiable Scot.
Lloyd, who knew Leslie for more than 25 years, also raced in the BTCC in the 1970s but achieved his greatest successes as a team owner. The Englishman ran Audi’s factory BTCC effort and guided Frank Biela to the 1996 title.
His Apex Motorsport outfit also oversaw the Bentley sportscar project at the start of this decade which finally achieved Lloyd’s dream of winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2003.
JM