Solid finishes for both Team PSP drivers at Donington

The final two races of PETRONAS-backed Team PSP’s inaugural season in the British Touring Car Championships saw both drivers post solid points-scoring finishes in both races. David Leslie’s season points tally netted him a fine seventh place overall in the 2002 Green Flag BTC Touring Car Championship, well placed among the drivers with the established teams.

Sprint Race (Race 19):

After qualifying midfield (Leslie in 9th and Bennett in 14th place), both drivers made good starts among the usual frantic activity of the first lap that saw the safety car out to allow one of the Barwell cars to be removed to safety. Both drivers worked their way up through the field in the 20-lap race on the 2.5 mile Grand Prix circuit, with Leslie finishing a fine sixth pace just two seconds behind Vauxhall’s Muller and well ahead of MG’s Warren Hughes. Phil Bennett finished strongly just over a second behind the MG driver in 8th place.

David Leslie said: “This was another tough race where we had to pick up places by hard work. I’m pleased with sixth place but maybe even fourth was on the cards today – it’s that close in Touring Cars now.”

Feature Race (Race 20):

After another frantic first lap as the top six cars battled for track position, both David Leslie and Phil Bennett kept their noses clean and set about making up places. Their reliability and determination earned them both more championship points, with David Leslie taking another fine sixth place battling with the Astra of fifth-place man Paul O’Neill. Phil Bennett finished strongly in ninth place despite a handling imbalance which hampered his lap times.

Phil Bennett said: “This has been a huge learning curve this season for me. I’m pleased with the results today and believe we’re building a good platform for a strong challenge next season.”

David Leslie said: “We’ve made a lot of progress this year from a standing start with an all-new team. I’m looking forward to a good winter of consolidating what we’ve learned into a cracking car for next season.”

David Wong, Team Principal, Team PSP said: “I’m very proud of what this team has achieved this year. I asked for one podium finish and the team has produced four. David Leslie has done us proud by finishing in seventh place in the Championship. We have much to look forward to next season. Finally, I would like to thank PETRONAS for their support this season – and the great work of their engineers in helping our team.”