Leslie to present Indie threat to Neal.

Matt Neal will finally get some stiff competition in the Independent Class of the BTCC this weekend at Donington Park when he will be challenged by last year's series runner-up David Leslie.

Leslie is scheduled to step in to the vacant seat at PRO Motorsport which parted company with its regular driver Colin Blair after he crashed the 1999-spec Primera beyond immediate repair in testing at Croft. Blair did not start either race at Croft and the team could not prepare his car in time for the night races at Snetterton just over two weeks ago.

Blair then left the team after failing to challenge the other Super Touring Machines in the series.

The car, which is Laurent Aiello's 1999 Championship winning car, has been driven by the Scotsman on several occasions and his experience in the championship should see him up with the works boys at Donington.

Leslie has already made one BTCC appearance this year after being left out in the cold when Nissan withdrew at the end of last year. He stood in for the injured James Thompson at Thruxton and scored two points scoring results.

The bearded driver is also no stranger to life at the poor end of the grid. For several years before moving to Honda in 1996, Leslie performed heroics in the underfunded Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Cavalier often outshining the factory backed opposition. A performance akin to that on Sunday could see the Scot in the car for the rest of the year.