Whats wrong with Fiona Leggate?

[peewhee]

Exactly... What's wrong with Fiona Leggate??

Why is she not on the list? :bigcry:

http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=1562

[Steelrat]

Exactly... What's wrong with Fiona Leggate??

Why is she not on the list? :bigcry:

http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=1562

Errm ..... I *like* Fiona, I do, and I'd like to see her do well, but .......

P

[Winchester]

...she's slow and crashes a lot?

[Marc W]

That comment should be edited to say "She is crashed into a lot!"

Maybe she doesn't want to be on the list...?

[BeeJ_UK]

Fiona surprises me. I have watched her in Brit Car and she does really well, but that same skill does not seem to translate to BTCC.

[tisme]

...she's slow and crashes a lot?

She should fit into the DTM quite nicely then! :D

[SEATFreak]

This is purely to gague your views.

Imagine Audi chooses Katherine Legge for 2008. But now imagine Fiona joining her to form what must be the first all women 2-driver lineup in tintop racing.

Do you think being with another female, Fiona could benefit from that and in what way or ways?

[RaptorUK]

It would be great for Fiona to be in DTM . . . then a decent driver could get back behind the wheel of the MG again . . . :D

[RaptorUK]

Do you think being with another female, Fiona could benefit from that and in what way or ways?

Perhaps she could get some good tips on lipstick, nail varnish, etc . . .

Being serious for a minute . . . the MG she drove this year is an ex-WSR car, it has a revised, newer engine mounting and air intake compared to Jason's car . . . so she should be outperforming him if she is as good a driver. She has consistently been several seconds slower during qualifying . . . she just doesn't have enough talent.

[A Scotsman]

IMHO her seat is wasted. They should give it to someone with some real talent.

[LeonBrooke]

From that list, I think Audi should take Leanne Tander. She's not just competing in Australian F3, she's leading the championship!!

[Marc W]

IMHO her seat is wasted. They should give it to someone with some real talent.

Well as it's her own (Her family own the car.) seat, so I think she would have something to say about that! A lot happened this year that prevented her from showing her true speed. For example, there was a problem with the brakes for alot of the season that the team only discovered the cause of after the halfway point of the season. Things are not always as straight forward as they seem on the surface.

As for the earlier question about having two female team mates, no it would make absolutely no difference what sex your teammate is.

[WSRfan82]

i think Fiona is a great female racing driver and i think she would do well in DTM. Its a shame realy that shes not done that well in BTCC this season shes got bags of talent just needs a car that works well at the start of a season....Katherine Legge on the other hand she had realy imprest me, she showed the guys that shes a great racing driver and i think she would be a fabtastic choice for audi in 2008

[WSRfan82]

just wish like but two more female racing driver i think would be great in dtm as well

1.Danica Patrick finished 7th in indy cars
2.Sarah Fisher finished 17th in indy cars

[VXRDartford]

I would hate to see Fiona leggate leave the BTCC I would not be able to have a bet on what lap she will spin out on with my friends!! Usually lap 2 or 3!!

[SEATFreak]

I would hate to see Fiona leggate leave the BTCC I would not be able to have a bet on what lap she will spin out on with my friends!! Usually lap 2 or 3!!

Ouchh!

[BeansBeansBeans]

i think Fiona is a great female racing driver and i think she would do well in DTM.

No disrespect to Fiona, but she's hardly set the world alight in the BTCC, and I don't see any evidence which suggests that she would do well in a higher-profile, more competitive series like the DTM. Like a lot of those at the back of the BTCC grid (and again, no disrespect) she's little more than a club racer. If you're going to start throwing her name in the hat as a potential DTM superstar, you may as well line up Richard Marsh for a tilt at the GP2 title.

[peewhee]

No disrespect to Fiona, but she's hardly set the world alight in the BTCC,

Let's be realistic, she hardly had a race winning car this year in the MG!

[BDunnell]

Does anyone think she could win in a Vauxhall or SEAT, then?

[peewhee]

Doubt it. But she would be a lot further up the grid!

[A Scotsman]

Doubt it. But she would be a lot further up the grid!

.........when she crashes :D

[RaptorUK]

Doubt it. But she would be a lot further up the grid!

No she wouldn't . . . she can't even do better than her teammate . . and he has a slightly lesser spec car . . she is out of her league

[KEZ]

Personally, i'm sad to hear that Fiona hadn't been included on that list. I think that she's a talented driver and that she deserves more credit than what she gets, as when she started, she tried something new (did she not¿,with the different fuel type) to me to try that and not know if you'll be a success or a failure is a huge gamble and she tried it. All credit to her.

It's a shame that she can turn her talent into decent results all the time, but i suppose if she had a car like Mat jackson's then she might gain very respectable results, as she's proved on occasions before that she can put in some creditable performances and go on to finish above her team mate!

[Tracsmart]

Personally, i'm sad to hear that Fiona hadn't been included on that list. I think that she's a talented driver and that she deserves more credit than what she gets, as when she started, she tried something new (did she not¿,with the different fuel type) to me to try that and not know if you'll be a success or a failure is a huge gamble and she tried it. All credit to her.

It's a shame that she can turn her talent into decent results all the time, but i suppose if she had a car like Mat jackson's then she might gain very respectable results, as she's proved on occasions before that she can put in some creditable performances and go on to finish above her team mate!
On the first point, using biofuel is a good marketing promotional activity, so not much of a gamble


On the second point, if she had a car like Matt, she would only crash quicker

[Marc W]

I'm not sure where this issue of her crashing has come from, most of the incidents that have happened to her this year have been other drivers hitting her. Plus its not much use having a slightly higher spec car than your teammate if all it does is breakdown, which it has done at some point in every round this season, usually several times in a weekend. She needed all the tracktime she could get this year to learn the car etc and she has had so may problems its been severly restricted. The team have not bee able to do any testing this year, even media day was a disaster when both cars gearboxes failed after only a handful of laps. There has been problem after problem and she has not been able to show her true potential. The other series she was racing in, Britcar PS1 she has won her class championship and in several of the races has beaten most of the runners in the class above hers in what was one of the lowest powered cars in the field, mainly because she has loads of experience in that car over the years and feels extremely confident driving it.

[BeansBeansBeans]

The other series she was racing in, Britcar PS1 she has won her class championship and in several of the races has beaten most of the runners in the class above hers in what was one of the lowest powered cars in the field, mainly because she has loads of experience in that car over the years and feels extremely confident driving it.

Should she be considered for a salaried DTM drive on this basis?

[Marc W]

I never said that, I just felt that some of the statements on here were unfair. I've not spoken to her about it, but I don't think she'd want the pressure of a DTM drive at the moment anyway. She knows Vanina having raced with her a few years ago in a 24 hour race, and I'm sure they've probably spoken about Vanina's experiences in the DTM.

[Allyc85]

simple shes not that good thats why lol. No impressive performances and she does spin alot.

[tyreman2]

Should she be considered for a salaried DTM drive on this basis?
In a word no! She would have to raise her level of driving considerably to deserve a place in DTM
I am suprised that she doesn't seem to have any major backers outside of family business as being the only female in BTCC should bring great marketing possibilities.I am not sure why Fionna bought the MG.I believe that was a poor choice,secondly Kartworld is an amatuer team built around Jason who IMO is a very underated driver and flatters the teams abilities, and to ask them to step up to the mark to run 2 cars was always going to be difficult so that was bad choice No 2.I also suspect that she didn't have a very big budget to run the car with.She has certainly shown some talent in other cars so i think she needs some strong management to get the right funding in place and then join a team who have experience of bringing on a drivers talent

[RaptorUK]

Plus its not much use having a slightly higher spec car than your teammate if all it does is breakdown, which it has done at some point in every round this season, usually several times in a weekend.

Compare her qualifying times against Jason's . . .

[Marc W]

When I said about car problems I didn't only mean races, she missed quite a few practice and qualifying sessions.

[peewhee]

In a word no! She would have to raise her level of driving considerably to deserve a place in DTM
I am suprised that she doesn't seem to have any major backers outside of family business as being the only female in BTCC should bring great marketing possibilities.I am not sure why Fionna bought the MG.

She didn't have a say in racing the MG! Daddy bought it! Daddy decides who she races with! Ask Fiona!

She was lined-up to race with another team, but her dad decided she would be better-off at Kartworld!!

[A Scotsman]

I'm personally very much in favour of getting more girls driving but Fiona's record in the high profile end of the sport doesn't help that cause.

That said, further down at club level and elsewhere there are some extremely good drivers.. A couple of the Knockhill girls stand out well including Carol Brown in the Scottish Legends who has really come on this year beating a lot of the male drivers who've been at if for years.. The other that comes to mind is Sarah Playfair who has done pretty well in Formula Ford.. Elsewhere don't forget that Jenny Ryan won the Mini Challenge Championship this year beating Olly Mortimer which I think came as big surprise a to him as it did to all his old mates at Knockhill..

Unfortunately though these girls don't have Fiona's budget to play with and it's always how much money you have that gets you the drive not how much talent you've got..

[tyreman2]

She didn't have a say in racing the MG! Daddy bought it! Daddy decides who she races with! Ask Fiona!

She was lined-up to race with another team, but her dad decided she would be better-off at Kartworld!!

Hence my remarks about poor car/team choice and the need for strong management!

[RaptorUK]

When I said about car problems I didn't only mean races, she missed quite a few practice and qualifying sessions.

So you are saying that the reason Fiona was only able to out qualify Jason once was because she had technical/reliability issues . . . . at every meeting bar one ?

You should look at qualifying times from last year comparing Colin Turkington in the MG to Jason Hughes . . . then compare Jason to Fiona this year . . . if Fiona is such a good driver she should be closer to Colin's times . . . she isn't even close to Jason.

[Marc W]

So you are saying that the reason Fiona was only able to out qualify Jason once was because she had technical/reliability issues . . . . at every meeting bar one ?

You should look at qualifying times from last year comparing Colin Turkington in the MG to Jason Hughes . . . then compare Jason to Fiona this year . . . if Fiona is such a good driver she should be closer to Colin's times . . . she isn't even close to Jason.

No, I was saying that because the car was new to her she needed plenty of track time to get to grips with it and so get closer to Jason. It's not like driving for someone like team RAC where they are able to do loads of testing, the only time she got in the car was during race meetings and because of reliability issues this was severely restricted. Jason has already had several years of experience with the car before this season.

I'm am certainly not trying to say Fiona is some amazing ace driver who is going to blitz the entire field when her car works, but she is far better than some people give her credit for and there have been some far worse drivers in the BTCC over the years.

[Marc W]

[quote="A Scotsman"]I'm personally very much in favour of getting more girls driving but Fiona's record in the high profile end of the sport doesn't help that cause.

That said, further down at club level and elsewhere there are some extremely good drivers.. A couple of the Knockhill girls stand out well including Carol Brown in the Scottish Legends who has really come on this year beating a lot of the male drivers who've been at if for years.. The other that comes to mind is Sarah Playfair who has done pretty well in Formula Ford.. Elsewhere don't forget that Jenny Ryan won the Mini Challenge Championship this year beating Olly Mortimer which I think came as big surprise a to him as it did to all his old mates at Knockhill..

Unfortunately though these girls don't have Fiona's budget to play with and it's always how much money you have that gets you the drive not how much talent you've got..[/QUOTE

Fiona too, has an excellent record in the racing she had done before the BTCC, there is no guarantee that these girls would do any better than Fiona has if they were to join the series.

[RaptorUK]

I'm am certainly not trying to say Fiona is some amazing ace driver who is going to blitz the entire field when her car works, but she is far better than some people give her credit for and there have been some far worse drivers in the BTCC over the years.

OK, fair point, I had high hopes for her at the start of the season . . . I think she is out of her depth in BTCC though. Give the MG to s driver like Adam Jones maybe and I'm sure he would be beating Jason . . .

[Marc W]

OK, fair point, I had high hopes for her at the start of the season . . . I think she is out of her depth in BTCC though. Give the MG to s driver like Adam Jones maybe and I'm sure he would be beating Jason . . .

I'd agree that Adam Jones would beat Jason, but not in Fiona's car, it wouldn't run for long enough! ;)

[Dave Clark]

But Marc - how is it that Colin finished the majority of races in 2006 and only had a few retirements - less than 5 I think. And this year the car is plagued with problems - its the same car!

I honestly dont think track time was needed. Colin went from the ZS last year into his first RWD car this year and stuck it on pole in the first race with little if any testing because the cars were finished off so late. That shows skill.

You know I like Fiona, so I'm not jumping on the 'lets knock Fiona bandwagon' but she didnt have a great year but not all of it can be blamed on others.

[Marc W]

But Marc - how is it that Colin finished the majority of races in 2006 and only had a few retirements - less than 5 I think. And this year the car is plagued with problems - its the same car!

I honestly dont think track time was needed. Colin went from the ZS last year into his first RWD car this year and stuck it on pole in the first race with little if any testing because the cars were finished off so late. That shows skill.

You know I like Fiona, so I'm not jumping on the 'lets knock Fiona bandwagon' but she didnt have a great year but not all of it can be blamed on others.

The failures were not related to the way the car was driven and Fiona isn't the person that maintains the car....

Turns out it was Rob Collards car rather than Colin Turkington's as they were told when they bought the car not that it makes any difference.

Also Colin did do some testing in the BMW this season, Tom Onslow Cole doing even more, including some in other rear wheel drive cars before the Touring cars were ready just to get used to the different hadnling. Plus Colin Turkington has had several years more experience in motorsport in general. People are different, some people can jump in anything and just drive it fast from the off whereas as others need more time but can also achieve excellent results in the end.

As I already said I'm not trying to say that if the car worked that Fiona would have blitzed the field but the fact that it didn't certainly didn't help her cause and with more track time she would have had more success.

[Wim_Impreza]

She is not that fast, but she looks very well and is very friendly. I saw and talked to her in the 24 hours of Zolder in 2005, where she drove the Mini from Daikin Racing Team. She did very well and was faster then her Belgian teammate, Alexandra Van der Velde. Van der Velde had a lot more experience in that car in that year, because she drove the full Belcar championship in the Mini. Later in the year, I saw Fiona in a Britcar race at the same Zolder circuit and she made not much mistakes. She had never driven in Zolder before that year.

[mattie007]

Fiona is a decent club racer, but I fear the BTCC is one step too far. Before the MG, she raced a championship winning Astra Coupe but didn't set the world alight.
And why do people blame the MG? It almost finished 2nd last year in very capable hands. WSR knew the car from day one and could get the best out of it. As much as I admire Kartworld, they probably have many things still to learn about the ZS.
A car can be a race winner with one team and a back marker with another ( just look at how poorly Blankley, George and Taylor did with the Integra this year).

It does show that you need some skill to do well in the BTCC, not just money.
Just watch how well Paul Luti will do with the MG in 2008!

[RaptorUK]

WSR knew the car from day one and could get the best out of it. As much as I admire Kartworld, they probably have many things still to learn about the ZS.

As an example of this . . . WSR ran Turkington's car without a front anti-roll bar, they used the suspension to control the roll . . . Kartworld have it bolted back on.

[johngeorge]

Hi Mattie ,
i dont think come the end i did that poorly , i admit at the start of the season i would have liked to have been a whole lot closer to Mike Jordan , he was the class of the Integra field. But after we sorted the gearbox and then damper problems it all got a lot better for the last 3 rounds. #
At Thruxton i out qualified Murrey, Collard and Oniel and was less than a second off Jordan i would have taken that at the start of the season those guys are not mugs .
At Knockhill i didnt qualify as the engine went but in the first race my best lap was 3 tenths off Jordan and a tenth quicker then Smith in the Seat .
In the first 6 rounds i couldnt complete a race or qualifying without the box destroying itself so never got a chance, really strange what the problem actually was , the angle that i was pulling the lever was so different than MAtt it didnt operate the engine cut, this was because we had to move the seat almost a 12inches forward because of the hieght differance .
So poorly to start ok ,but lots of promise at the end .

John

[PDS]

John, They are so ready to knock you guys. But without you, the Championship would be a poorer place!

Thanks for being there!

As for the final rounds at Thruxton... respect!

Can we expect you back in 2008?

[VkmSpouge]

There was definitely an improvement at the end of the season for you, John. Hopefully you can carry the promise shown into next year.

[AlexD]

To me the improvement was very obvious. Being 3 tenths off down on a incredibly fast, experienced driver with one year's racing in the car over you is very good indeed. Looking forward to next year.

Anyway, Fiona's good in an MG Zr, but not DTM material...


..yet!

[mattie007]

Hi Mattie ,
i dont think come the end i did that poorly , i admit at the start of the season i would have liked to have been a whole lot closer to Mike Jordan , he was the class of the Integra field. But after we sorted the gearbox and then damper problems it all got a lot better for the last 3 rounds. #
At Thruxton i out qualified Murrey, Collard and Oniel and was less than a second off Jordan i would have taken that at the start of the season those guys are not mugs .
At Knockhill i didnt qualify as the engine went but in the first race my best lap was 3 tenths off Jordan and a tenth quicker then Smith in the Seat .
In the first 6 rounds i couldnt complete a race or qualifying without the box destroying itself so never got a chance, really strange what the problem actually was , the angle that i was pulling the lever was so different than MAtt it didnt operate the engine cut, this was because we had to move the seat almost a 12inches forward because of the hieght differance .
So poorly to start ok ,but lots of promise at the end .

John

Sorry if I sounded like I was knocking you John and perhaps my words wern't the best! You were certainly the 2nd best Integra driver this year.
I shouldn't of sounded so harsh and like PDS said, sometimes we are quick to knock the drivers that keep the championship so strong.

I believe you also got the fastest lap in the last race at Snetterton?!

Anyway, good luck in 2008.

[johngeorge]

Thanks for the kind words and just to confirm i have agreed a deal today with TH motorsport to drive the Integra for them in 2008 so looking forward to another year of great racing .

john

[VkmSpouge]

Good luck to you and TH Motorsport for 2008, also more red on that Integra :D

[Marc W]

Thanks for the kind words and just to confirm i have agreed a deal today with TH motorsport to drive the Integra for them in 2008 so looking forward to another year of great racing .

john


Excellent news, good luck for 2008! I'll have to come over and say hello at some point, I've been taking a few photos for one of your sponsors, SAM cases.

(I wonder if this should be split off as its got completely off topic!)

[Les]

Thanks for the kind words and just to confirm i have agreed a deal today with TH motorsport to drive the Integra for them in 2008 so looking forward to another year of great racing .

john

that is excellent news John - it will be great to see you out there again

[Marc W]

I thought some of you might like to know that Fiona will be appearing in the Independent Newspaper soon, on Tuesday 20th November. The Sports editor even gets a drive in her MG!