BTCC: Leslie and Lloyd feared dead in plane crash

[Rory Phoulorie]

Sunday, March 30th 2008, 21:18 GMT



Former British Touring Car racer David Leslie and sportscar team boss Richard Lloyd were among five people killed in a plane crash in Kent this afternoon, according to sources close to Autosport.

Their private Cessna Citation 501 aircraft was headed for the south of France where Leslie was due to drive Lloyd's Apex Motorsport Jaguar XKR in an FIA GT3 equalisation test at Nogaro tomorrow.

The pilot made a mayday call to Biggin Hill Airfield, near Farnborough, reporting severe engine vibrations, but the plane crashed into the corner of a housing estate seconds later. The plane's two pilots and three passengers were killed, but nobody on the ground was injured.

A pilot who was flying a small aircraft just ahead of Leslie and Lloyd's plane told Sky News: "I was on final approach to Biggin Hill and I heard the pilot declare mayday and I could hear alarms in the cockpit.

"The pilot said 'We're going down, we're going down.' The radio stayed live and as I turned off the runway I looked back and saw the plane drop out of the sky. The radio went dead and black smoke came up from over the hill."

Leslie, who was 54, was best known for his wins in the British Touring Car Championship at the height of the super touring formula's popularity in the late 1990s, but he had also enjoyed a long and successful career in single-seaters and sportscars.

Lloyd, who was 63, founded Richard Lloyd Racing, who ran Porsche 956s and 962s in the World Sportscar Championship. He also successfully ran Audis in the BTCC and at Le Mans, and managed Bentley's victorious return to Le Mans in 2003. More recently he developed the Jaguar XKR for the FIA GT3 Championship.

Authorities have not confirmed the identity of plane's occupants.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police read: "We haven't confirmed the identity of any of the victims. Until we know that all of the next of kin have been informed, we can't make any further comment."

autosport.com

[Rory Phoulorie]

Police name Leslie, Lloyd.

Monday, 31st March 2008

British motorsport in mourning.


Former British Touring Car Championship race winner David Leslie and Apex Motorsport team boss Richard Lloyd have been confirmed among the five people killed when their plane came down shortly after take off yesterday.

The pair were heading to the French circuit of Nogaro for the latest equalisation test for the FIA GT3 European Championship, where Leslie was due to get behind the wheel of Apex's Jaguar XKR.

The Cessna Citation 1 jet had taken off from Biggin Hill airfield for the trip across the English Channel when it got into trouble, with another pilot who heard a mayday call from the aircraft telling the BBC that the pilot was reporting 'severe engine vibrations'.

"You could hear the alarms in the cockpit," he said. "The pilot came back over the radio a second or two later and said 'We're going down, we're going down'.

"The radio stayed live, and as I turned off the runway I looked back and I saw the plane basically drop out of the sky. And then the radio went dead and black smoke came up from over the hill."

The plane came down on the edge of a housing estate in Farnborough in Kent, although there were no injuries amongst people on the ground.

Police have this morning confirmed that the pilot had reported a mechanical issue prior to the incident and have also named both Leslie and Lloyd amongst the victims. The remaining names have not yet been released.

Authorities plan to move the five bodies from the site of the accident today as investigations begin to find out what caused the plane to come down.

Crash.net joins the entire motorsport community in extending its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of all five people involved.

crash.net

[Plex]

Rory, like we made a double post here...

http://www.zorce.com/zforums/viewtopic.php?t=8075

[Rory Phoulorie]