Wishing Sophia Floersch a very Happy 25th birthday today. A history maker in recent seasons, Sophia became the first female racer to finish on the overall podium in the European Le Mans Series, taking 3rd at Portimao with for the Algarve Pro Racing Team (APRT) in 2021, having already made history by being part of the Richard Mille Racing Team's all-female entry in the 24 Heures du Mans. In 2020 Floersch competed in Formula 3, only the 2nd woman to do so after the rebrand from GP3, combining her season with prototype racing entering the Le Castellet 240 with Beitske Visser. She also raced in the DTM and in F3 in 2019, but is probably best known for her awful high speed crash at the 2018 Macau Grand Prix, from which she has fully recovered after suffering a fractured spine. An horrendous incident, but one that perversely put her in motorsport spotlight. Prior to that, fans of the BTCC & TOCA package will remember her racing in and winning the Ginetta Junior Championship, showcasing her obvious talent in tin tops and in open wheel racing alike. Two years ago Sophia drove Giovanni Amati's 1992 Brabham BT60B at the Gulf Historic GP at the Dubai Autodrome, a car that raced before she was born - her first taste of F1 machinery. In 2023 she became the first female to officially register points in an F3 race, doing so with her PHM Racing by Charouz team at Spa before joining Van Amersfoort Racing in 2024, taking a best of 12th at Imola before taking on the role of test & development driver with APRT in 2025 - a year spent promoting females in motorsport and other industries. Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Sophia 🇩🇪 #happybirthday #F1 #BTCC #DTM #lemans #F3 #macau #germany #womeninmotorsport #sportivo

Remembering BTCC great and 24 Heures du Mans racer David Leslie, born on this day in 1953. Hailing from Annan, between Gretna Green and Dumfries, David is probably best known for his 219 BTCC races between 1987 and 2003 for Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall, Honda Team MSD, Vodafone Nissan Racing and PETRONAS Syntium Proton. In that time David took took 9 wins. 35 podiums, 16 pole positions and 17 fastest laps, many of which were in a terrific 1999 season when he finished as runner up to Laurent Aiello. He also competed in the British F1 Championship in 1979, two races in the Swedish Scandinavian Touring Car Championship in 2000 and 7 British GT Championship events that year. The Scot drove in 3 runnings of the 24 Hours of Spa with a best result of 7th in 1998, and competed in 24 Hours of Le Mans on 10 occasions between 1984 and 1995 with Ecurie Ecosse, Mazda, Aston Martin, Jaguar & Marcos alongside the likes of Mike Wilds, Martin Brundle & David Sears. In 1993 he raced the Jaguar XJ220 alongside Win Percy & Armin Hahne, retiring with engine failure while in contention for the lead of the GT class. A hard racer but a really lovely, affable guy, David was tragically lost in an aircraft accident in 2008. He is greatly missed. Rest In Peace, David 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #happybirthday #restinpeace #BTCC #lemans #f1 #legend #scotland 📸 Michael Lee