Les Leston

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Les Leston
Born(1920-12-16)16 December 1920
Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, England
Died13 May 2012(2012-05-13) (aged 91)
Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Active years1956 – 1957
TeamsConnaught, Cooper, BRM
Entries3 (2 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1956 Italian Grand Prix
Last entry1957 British Grand Prix

Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (16 December 1920 – 13 May 2012), better known as Les Leston, or in full Leslie Leston, was a British racing driver, born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire.[1]

Early life[edit]

Leston was the second son of Harry Fingleston, a coal factor from Milton Chambers, Nottingham, and his wife Kate or Kitty, née Fine,[2] his elder brother being Dennis Leston the entomologist.

In his early life Leston was a successful drummer for the jazz band The Clay Pigeons. He also served in WW2 as a mid-upper gunner in an Avro Lancaster.

In 1939 before the outbreak of war he was the shopkeeper for fancy and toilet goods as part of the family business,[3] and soon after the war finished he and his father "Monty" (otherwise Henry or Harry [4]) set up a successful aeronautical accessories business, Aero Spares, a company involved in a variety of technical appliances made for war planes.

Racing career[edit]

He started racing in a Jaguar SS100 before acquiring a 500cc Cooper and his own Leston Special. He won the Luxembourg Grand Prix in 1952 (a race containing Stirling Moss and Peter Collins), and became a Cooper works driver in 1954 winning the British Formula Three championship in the same year. He participated in three Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 September 1956, but scored no championship points. He was entered to 1962 Le Mans by Colin Chapman to co-drive with Tony Shelly in a Lotus 23, but the race organizer, ACO, denied the entry in the famous Lotus Le Mans debacle. His best success at Le Mans came as an Aston Martin works driver with Roy Salvadori where he finished 6th overall in 1957.

From 1958 to 1960 he had a successful stint in a Riley 1.5 becoming British Saloon Car champion in Class B as well as campaigning the car in the Monte Carlo Rally and using it as a daily run about for business and pleasure.

He was most famous for driving the famous DADIO - a Lotus Elite. His duels with Graham Warner in LOV1 have gone down in British racing history. He would become British GT Champion in this car and have many victories.

Life outside racing[edit]

After escaping from a serious crash at Caen in 1958 when his F2 Lotus seized and the engine caught fire, he concentrated on his ever-expanding motorcar accessories business – the field that he was best known for. Les Leston Accessories merchandised aftermarket parts for cars, such as steering wheels and gear levers. The steering wheels were made in Walsall and like with most things in the aftermarket motoring accessories field Les Leston was the first to offer such items - hence he gained the tag as the godfather of the motoring aftermarket.

It was after receiving burns in the crash in Caen (where he leapt from the car at 90 mph) that he pioneered the marketing of flameproof overalls.[1] At the time many racing drivers wore short sleeved shirts - Leston's fame and connection to all the great Formula One drivers meant that very soon a lot of them were wearing Les Leston overalls.[citation needed] Graham Hill appeared regularly in Leston's adverts in such overalls, also sporting the Leston made Graham Hill rally master jacket.

In the late 1960s Leston became a Formula One pit reporter for the BBC, until he was replaced by Barrie Gill.

In the 1990s Leston lived in Hong Kong, where he was married twice and expanded his merchandising business sourcing-in from China the giveaways, etc., that were rewards for incentives such as submitting cereal-box tops. His lifestyle involved owning a large cruiser that he would take out to sea at weekends and a jazz radio show. He frequented the bar of the Foreign Correspondents' Club, and for leisure he rode a BMW 1,200 cc motor bike.

Racing record[edit]

Complete Formula One World Championship results[edit]

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 WDC Points
1956 Connaught Engineering Connaught Type B Alta Straight-4 ARG MON 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA
Ret 		NC 0
1957 Cooper Car Company Cooper T43 Climax Straight-4 ARG MON
DNQ 		500 FRA NC 0
Owen Racing Organisation BRM P25 BRM Straight-4 GBR
Ret 		GER PES ITA

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Pts Class
1958 Les Leston Riley 1.5 B BRH BRH MAL
5† 		BRH BRH CRY BRH BRH
4 		BRH
3 		? ? 3rd
1959 Les Leston Riley 1.5 B GOO
6 		AIN
? 		SIL
10 		CRY
3 		SNE
Ret 		BRH
4† 		BRH
Ret† 		3rd 38 1st
1960 Les Leston Volvo 122S 1001-1600cc BRH SNE
DNS 		MAL OUL SNE BRH BRH
7* 		BRH
?* 		NC* 0*
1961 Leston Racing Volvo 122S B SNE
? 		GOO
DNS 		AIN SIL CRY SIL BRH OUL SNE 29th 4 8th
1963 Alan Fraser Racing Team Sunbeam Rapier Series IIIA B SNE
15 		OUL GOO
13 		AIN
? 		SIL CRY SIL 19th 12 7th
John Willment Automobiles Ford Cortina GT BRH
13 		BRH OUL SNE
Source:[5]

† Events with 2 races staged for the different classes.

  • Car over 1000cc - Not eligible for points.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Obituaries: Les Leston". The Daily Telegraph. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  2. ^ 1921 census GRO register of marriages Mar 1916, Nottingham 7b, 729
  3. ^ 1939 Register for Willesden>
  4. ^ General Registrar's Office registers of births and marriages; 1939 Register for Willesden, where his occupation is "general dealer"
  5. ^ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
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