Wakefield teenage racing driver Finn Leslie targets sponsorship to create more level playing field

The Wakefield-born racer is already trophy hunting, claiming the Mark 7 class championship at Silverstone while still in his first year in the Fiesta junior championships.

But to progress further the 16-year-old needs financial support – and further for him is not necessarily Formula 1.

“I want to stick with car racing rather than the Formula side,” Leslie, pictured, told The Yorkshire Post.

“The budget for Formula is a different world to get into.

“I want to continue on the path that I’m on.”

That would ultimately mean the British or World Touring Car Championship.

The best in the world of British touring car racing are among the names Leslie cites as his idols.

“Drivers Ash Sutton and Jake Hill are in the positions that I hopefully want to be in, so I look up to them and how they do things,” he said.

But to get there he has a major hurdle to overcome which for many young drivers is the expensive cost of motorsport.

Even at such a primary stage of his life in driving, Leslie needs sponsorship to keep his goal of professional racing alive.

“The biggest challenge is to find the funding to move on,” he said. “The budgets are about six figures so to raise that sort of money as a normal person is difficult.

“I’ve been speaking to different people, different companies. I speak to them about why they should help me, about the opportunities it will also bring to their company as well as to me.”

Leslie believes finding sponsorship could create a level playing field for him in junior racing.

“For these kids that have the money to do it, it’s an easy process for them and they don’t always need to be the best driver,” he said. “Whereas my results this year have proven I can beat all the people who have the money.”

His journey in motorsport began at the age of eight.

“My dad always liked cars and one day we saw something about racing on a track and how to get into it,” he said.

“We contacted one of the teams and organised a day and this was in 2016, so I was about nine years old. I enjoyed my first day and it carried on from there.

“l did eight years of kart racing up to international level and now I’ve just done my first season in car racing at junior level which is ages 14 to 17.

“I won the championship in the juniors this year so I’m hoping to move up and continue my progress.”

Driving Ford Fiesta’s at such high speeds is challenging for anyone, never mind someone who cannot legally drive a car.

“In Fiestas, it’s about learning all the car circuits,” admitted Leslie, who to facilitate his ambition is studying for a diploma in sporting excellence at Loughborough Motorsport College.

“There’s a lot that goes on in a car; you’ve got gearing and things like that, there’s a lot going on around you,”