RIP David Leslie....racing has lost a true gent.

I first met the chirpy, bearded Scotsman back in 1997 when I was a young general news reporter at the tender age of 22, desperate to break into motorsport.

At the time, he was racing for Nissan, and the team invited me along to Croft to sit in on their first official testing session.

David, who had moved to Nissan just that season, had previously raced the Honda Accord in the BTCC, and been the first driver to take the Honda to victory.

In those days my dad - whose first name is Leslie - drove an Accord on the road, and we used to chuckle when we watched the racing on TV and heard Murray Walker talking about "Leslie's Accord".

I took my dad down to Croft that day, and he and David engaged in a long conversation about why he'd left Honda, and the pair of them chatted and joked like old mates.

That year mine and David's path crossed on several occasions. The attached picture shows me (albeit slightly worse for wear after a day on the booze) with him at Croft in June 1997, about half an hour after he had taken third place and a podium in the second race of the day.

A fortnight later he and his team-mate Anthony Reid took some of us on some high speed laps around the Nissan test track. David didn't drive for me, instead he stood back and wound me up, before pointing and laughing at me as I did my best to climb into the car, and greeted me with a huge grin and I emerged slightly worse for wear several minutes later.

It seems like a lifetime ago, and after that David remained in touring cars for a few seasons before heading off to sportscars.

I would regularly bump into him at the track, and he'd always be straight across to have a chat and was always quick to get the coffees in.

His favourite greeting was always "Have you sobered up yet?" in reference to my drunken escapades at the Croft race, and this was usually followed with "And how's your dad, is he still driving a Honda?"

In recent years, I've become used to hearing his unmistakeable Scottish tones coming out of the TV, as he turned his hands to commentating.

And while it was good hearing him, it was a shame not to see him as much as I once did.

Over the years I've worked with scores of riders and drivers, some have become close friends, some are just blokes I write about and chat to on the phone now and then.

David Leslie was neither. He wasn't a close friend, but he was more than an acquaintance.

He was a great man, he was a funny man, he was a kind man and he had a great love for his sport which extended to pretty much anyone who felt the same.

David was also a talented driver and racer, with multiple wins to his name. He was warm, and generous and despite his talent and fame among racing fans, he had no airs or graces.

He never thought for a moment he was anything out of the ordinary.

But the rest of us did.

RIP David Leslie...we will all miss you dreadfully.x