Les Leston

Alfred Lazarus Fingleston (born 16th December, 1920 in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, died 13th May, 2012 in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex), better known as Les Leston was a British racing driver.

Leston's pre-war life saw him as a drummer in popular jazz band The Clay Pigeons. During WW2, Leston was in the Royal Air Force as a gunner in a Lancaster bomber. Leston's RAF experience saw him and his father set up an aeronautical spares company once the war was over. The money earned from this meant he could dabble in motor racing - winning the British Formula 3 championship in 1954 as a works Cooper driver.

Leston made his Formula One debut in 1956 with the Vandervell Products Ltd. team taking part in the Irish Grand Prix. Leston retired from the race after a heavy collision on the tenth lap - fracturing his right knee cap and ruling him out for the rest of the year.

Leston later became a pitlane reporter for the BBC in the 1960s.