Fiona Leggate

[flip275]

Now then guys and gals.

Is Fiona racing this weekend as i remember a post been put on about her and that she might not be able to make it.

[Editor1]

Fiona is at Brands, her car is at Brands and, although she missed practice 1 (due to a minor hiccup with the car, possibly a legacy of her Snetterton incident) there is every intention of her competing this weekend.

Thanks
Editor1

[AlfaFan]

I was just about to say according to the timings she did 1 lap. Best of luck to her I say!

[Editor1]

She was back out running 'properly' in session two and certainly faired better than a few others - see the report on the homepage.

Thanks
Editor1

[laurat]

Ah that is good news - girl power is what i say and good luck to Fiona!

[Marc W]

The "minor" problem in session 1 was the clutch, which was related to her crash at Snetterton. brands was the first time the car had run since the crash and so the problem wasn't discovered until then. Ideally the car would have been run in the week before to check everything out but there just wasn't time. It wasn't until Qualifying that they finally got everything working properly (although she did do about 12 laps in session 2 while having various other problems.) and by then she had lost all her set up time. Hopefully things will go better tomorrow.

[laurat]

She's 22nd on the grid isn't she?
rather strange how she's only like 2 seconds behind the leader in time terms yet she's at the end of the line - poor little soul!

[Marc W]

She's 21st. She was hoping for a time in the mid to low 50's which would have put her right up with her team mate Jason, but the loss of almost all the practice sessions put paid to that. She should hopefully move up the grid in the races tomorrow, as long as she doesn't get punted off this time!

[AlfaFan]

Marc give her my Wishes and I hope she has a great day. She deserves some luck this season.

[Assassin]

Full credit to the team for working so hard.. I'll be there nice and early tommorow..

[laurat]

yes marc, please give fiona and the other guys if and when you see them all of our best wishes!

[AlfaFan]

I feel so so sorry for Fiona yet again another accident where she was innocent. Just keep at it Fiona.

[laurat]

yeah my heart does go out to the poor girl - she look a little fed up shall i say when she was stood on the hill overlookihng the track - her thoughts were blatantly elsewhere - it's all a shame for her what with all the hard hours of work, training and maintenance of the car she has to do - also for her team too!

[VkmSpouge]

Leggate (along with many others) were very unfortunate to get caught up in Mat Jackson's accident. Have to say though her spin at the beginning of race 3 was pretty poor.

[touringlegend]

Not a single racing lap for Fiona this weekend ! :(

[kali]

Couldn't even take it easy into paddock on race 3, poor driving. Giovanardis save on race 3 was amazin though.

[Brooklands78]

Not a single racing lap for Fiona this weekend ! :(
Her brief appearance in Race 3 will do her no favours at all. From where I was viewing, it seemed a simple case of too much speed into Paddock on cold tyres - maybe there was some other contributory factor, otherwise it was a very elemantary error that led to a safety car period.

[laurat]

Well whether or not some of you think she's deserves it or NOT - I particularly think to be where she is today (part of BTCC and the only girl in the championship) then she has done extremely well - afterall if you look at how many people try to get into be a BTCC racing driver - she has beat them all to it - I think she deserves to have more faith put towards her rather than a little bitchiness.

She tries her hardest and that is all a person can do so come guys don't give her a hard time!

[laurat]

well you never know - she may see this as a step down or you all may be surprised and she may have a comeback plan for season 2008 and wallop everyone's ass

[AlfaFan]

I think everyone has forgotten she has never raced modern technology in the BTCC so we cant really compare her to anyone else. Also she is the only female driver so we cant really compare her to the Men can we.

[dannybo]

I think everyone has forgotten she has never raced modern technology in the BTCC so we cant really compare her to anyone else. Also she is the only female driver so we cant really compare her to the Men can we.
What do you mean we cant compare her to the men? Seems a ridiculas comment, I assume its tongue-in-cheek?

[laurat]

thats a bit sexist - what happened to equality?
i don't know, the men of today, think you're much better than us women - well I tell you something, i bet I could give you all a running for your money on the track!

[projectzip]

Id like to see alot of people on here go up against her at the traffic light grandprix!

[AlfaFan]

What do you mean we cant compare her to the men? Seems a ridiculas comment, I assume its tongue-in-cheek?
nope. Just like you cant compare Danica Patrick to most of her competitors os Susie Stoddart to hers. Women are on the whole lighter there for especially in tin tops they have to work harder to turn the cars. Still on a good day Fiona can and does keep up and beat some others.

If im correct there was a bit of uproar when Danica joined the IRL as all the cars are equal weight but she had an advantage due to body size.

[laurat]

well comparing is no good - she is her own person and the way she races is the way she will race - she'll learn from mistakes she has made and hopefully come out the other end a better driver!

[AlfaFan]

well comparing is no good - she is her own person and the way she races is the way she will race - she'll learn from mistakes she has made and hopefully come out the other end a better driver!
To True. And I just hope she looks past all the negative posts and keeps positive. She is a good racer who just needs the chance in modern technology imo.

[pje77]

Didn't see the beginning of Fiona's 'off' in race 3 at Brands today, but I was listening in on her radio transmission at the time.
Initially she reported that something was wrong with the car, that it wouldn't go straight, and that "I wasn't even going fast, I was in second gear"
A rather fed-up voice from Fiona's pit replied, "Maybe cold tyres."
To which Fiona, after a thoughtful pause, replied, "Maybe it was cold tyres". Followed by "I'm really sorry guys."

Keep your chin up Fiona. Your luck must change sooner or later...

[Assassin]

Fiona, like others, was a victim of the earlier accident and would have made it to the grid for the second race and would not started from the pit lane in the third. They had only just finished rebuilding the car as the rest of the grid were about to start race three.

[mattlovestbs]

i feel for Fiona, made the jump to have a team mate and suddenly, she gets loads of bad luck :(

i reckon she was better off as a one lady team - where she was the focus, she could get all the attention of the mechanics, team boss etc.

keep at it Fiona - you're luck will change!

[VkmSpouge]

dont think thats harsh at all. would hate to think how much she has cost that team this year let alone anybody else thats been caught up in her poor driving

Probably hasn't cost the team much at all since Leggate has to pay for her drive.

[laurat]

well good luck to her anyway in all she does and i do hope her BTCC career takes off a little more than it has done for her

[thompp]

I'm a fan of Fiona's but maybe with her lack of success in BTCC this year, maybe she should spend more time in Brticar / production saloons where she has been much more successful.

[btccbryn]

no fiona should keep going in the btcc i think hopefully next year with a couple of new cars faster and more modern then she could do allot more for the team and jason to for that matter. come on kartworld

[Cassandra]

If Fiona has a faster car won't she spend LESS time in the BTCC as she'll just get to that first corner a little sooner.

[thompp]

If Fiona has a faster car won't she spend LESS time in the BTCC as she'll just get to that first corner a little sooner.

LOL

....or more time if she completes more races! :rolleyes:

[kali]

If she has a faster car she'll just crash more...no offence but if she has a car fast enough to keep in the action she'll just get into more panel rubbing and door bashing.

[laurat]

hey you never know Kali - it may be what she needs!

[Eunos]

I'm sorry but as an actual racer Fiona really hasnt impressed me that much.

No disrespect i'm sure she's a Lovely person. But i think even if she did get a faster Car i doubt she would be a Front Runner, Ofcourse if she ever proved me wrong than i will happily take back what i said.

[dannybo]

I'm sorry but as an actual racer Fiona really hasnt impressed me that much.

No disrespect i'm sure she's a Lovely person. But i think even if she did get a faster Car i doubt she would be a Front Runner, Ofcourse if she ever proved me wrong than i will happily take back what i said.
I tend to agree, I think she needs to start repaying the faith people have put in her with some solid finishes if she is going to retain her drive.

[scubachick]

Ok so Fiona's had a tuff season lets not give up on her. Don't forget that the teams loyalitys must be to get the team manager up and running before her. Which is a great shame but she understands that. Also a good percentage of her crashes weren't her fault. take Snetterton for example she had a great start till some body decided he wanted that part of the track. I say keep up the hard work Kartworld. Lets give 2008 all you've got.

[flip275]

I tend to agree, I think she needs to start repaying the faith people have put in her with some solid finishes if she is going to retain her drive.

yea im on that one aswell. some solid finishes in the points. it might even give her more confidence and start really going at it.
however im still standing on what i said earlier that maybe a year or two out of the BTCC and go into maybe the SEAT cupra championship and get some more experience, then come back to the BTCC with a fresh mind and ideas.

[laurat]

well you never know what they are thinking do you but I bet you if 2008 doesn;t prove succesful for them or at least better than the performances of 2007 then they'll thik of another strategy cos this one obviously isn't working in their favour

[ted]

yea im on that one aswell. some solid finishes in the points. it might even give her more confidence and start really going at it.
however im still standing on what i said earlier that maybe a year or two out of the BTCC and go into maybe the SEAT cupra championship and get some more experience, then come back to the BTCC with a fresh mind and ideas.
not a good idea...... most drivers lately dont come back!!!

[Cassandra]

If Fiona can do a season in the Cleos or Cupras and finish in the top three then I think she will have proven to everybody her right to race in the BTCC. Mind you she's still got to find a way to get past the first corner!:eek:

[laurat]

CASSANDRA - why are you so horrid at times - - I do hope Fiona doesn't come on here cos I bet the first chance she got, she'd run you over!

[CharlieJ]

CASSANDRA - why are you so horrid at times - - I do hope Fiona doesn't come on here cos I bet the first chance she got, she'd run you over!
Laura, don't take cassandra too seriously - she nearly deafened me at Brands screaming "come on Fiona!"

[Cassandra]

Yeah till she hit the first corner- "Sorry Guys!"

[laurat]

HEE HEE got me laughing - you guys are at each others throats like cat and dog - leave it out and get back on topic!

[btccbryn]

lots of good opinons expressed here i tend to agree with eunos shes most proably a really nice person but like you say with a faster car she might be better she might be worse we just dont know untill that happens.