Dalziel Daytona boost for Leckie 14 | 01 | 2014
SCOTS ENDURANCE RACER, and former FIA World Endurance LMP2 champ, Ryan Dalziel, has boosted the career prospects of one the country's leading young karting stars, Tommy Leckie.
The 17-year-old from Denny — a British and Scottish karting champ — has received an all-expenses trip to this month's (Jan 25/26) Rolex 24 at Daytona from Dalziel.
Dalziel — the 31-year-old from Airdrie, who won America's blue riband 24-hours race in 2010 — introduced his West of Scotland Kart Club ambassadorial prize in 2012.
Leckie follows the inaugural winner, Ciaran Haggerty, who was inspired after his trip to Daytona last January, to make the jump to Formula Ford single-seater racing with the Scottish Motor Racing Club.
Leckie, meanwhile, will move up to senior karts this season, but is delighted to have been picked for the prize.
In addition to his all-expenses paid trip to Florida, the youngster will be a guest of Dalziel's Patron ESM team and will be part of the Continental Tires pace car program. He'll also visit the Daytona Hall of Fame and museum during a VIP tour.
Related: Ryan Dalziel wins at Indianapolis
“The prize we gave last year to Ciaran snowballed into a life-changing opportunity for him," Florida-based Dalziel, who won the FIA LMP2 World Endurance Championship and Le Mans 24-Hours LMP2, both in 2012, explained today.
"The whole point of this award is to help these kids develop their profiles. We do the groundwork, but they have to run with it. What Ciaran did last year was to take the opportunity and really make the most of it.
“We are hoping for more of the same with Tommy. We are giving him a similar platform. I am really looking forward to him coming over to Florida and giving him the chance to see how the life of a professional racer can be, outside of Europe and Formula 1.
“His results in 2013 alone were a big part of why he was chosen. We did narrow it down to two this year and we had the opportunity to have one-to-one meetings with a number of candidates before the West of Scotland Kart Club awards.
“Tommy came across as a great kid. What really impressed me was that he has a job to help fund his racing. A lot of kids don’t have that mentality to decide ‘I need to go to work to contribute to this if I want to do it’.
“We don’t know what this trip will do for him, but we hope that it gives him a boost in motivation, media profile and we give him the opportunity to open up some doors."
Related: Dario Franchitti and Ryan Dalziel attend SMRC Awards
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Jim McGill