News / Racing driver enjoys Alfa Romeo debut
SHETLAND racing driver Kristian Leith enjoyed his first taste of action with Alfa Romeo at the world famous Silverstone circuit at the weekend.
The 38 year old was chosen earlier this year to compete as part of the Pro Alfa team in the BRSCC (British Racing & Sports Car Club) Alfa Romeo Championships this summer.
After qualifying in 11th place at Silverstone he finished tenth in the first proper race, going on to cross the line in eighth place in race two. That leaves him tenth out of 12 in the overall standings.
His manager Davie Peddie said he felt Leith had a “decent weekend” and “surpassed my expectations” having been slightly disappointed with his qualifying performance.
“He has shown me that he has massive potential and can pick things up very quickly,” Peddie said.
“He realised he was in a position that he was in a new car, new team at a circuit he has never even seen on the telly [and] he settled down and really started getting to grips with the car.”
The summer’s tour takes in Donington Park, Oulton Park, Cadwell Park, Snetterton, Anglesey and Rockingham before concluding on 18 and 19 October back at Silverstone. All the races are broadcast on Motors TV.
Leith confounded the odds to win the racing contract in the first place. It came on the back of a successful first season racing on the mainland in 2013 when he finished fifth in the Scottish Motor Racing Championships.
As a newcomer last year he came up against vastly more experienced drivers who were also able to practice much more regularly.
When the Alfa Romeo offer first came he had not taken it entirely seriously, assuming that such chances were only afforded to drivers in their late teens or early twenties.
But the team’s interest persisted and a delighted Leith eventually went down to Edinburgh in late February to sign on the dotted line.
“I’m coming at it from no motorsport experience [and] nowhere to practice or test locally,” he said.
“The only chance I get is on a racing weekend – last season, I would fly down on the Saturday, get there around dinnertime and they’d give you four 20-minute practice sessions around the circuit.”
This season Leith will have to adjust to driving at much faster speeds – last season the XR2 car he drove was clocked at 118mph, but the Alpha Romeo he’s driving this summer hit a top speed of some 167mph at Rockingham Raceway.
He reiterated his plea for local businesses to consider helping out with the cost of travel to and from England. Race entry fees for circuits south of the border are considerably more expensive too.
“There’s plenty of room on the side of the car for any sponsors,” Leith said.
In a couple of years he has a vision of creating a Shetland team to race competitively on the mainland.
“It would be great to get some discounted rate in two to three years’ time, from Flybe or whoever, and have a team down in Scotland to make the most of the talent that I do believe exists in Shetland,” Kristian says.
“When I was younger, some of the boys I used to kick about with on motorbikes and in cars, when we’d just passed our test – had they been given the opportunity that Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Valentino Rossi had, they could easily have been British touring car, F1, superbike contenders.”
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