Leastone Racing Cars began back in 1993 when Irishman Paul Heavey, a Formula Vee regular, decided to design and build his own car for the Formula Vee market. Having raced the car with great success in '93 and '94, Heavey was approached by an interested Ray Moore, who wanted to try the car. At the end of 1994 he had his first test and this resulted in the first order for a Leastone Formula Vee chassis. Moore raced the first customer Leastone in 1995 and finished second overall in the Irish Championship along with winning the Phoenix Park.
Since then, Paul Heavey's Leastone Engineering Company has gone from strength to strength producing successful chassis for both Irish and British customers. Over 40 Formula Vees have been built by the Co. Kildare based constructor which now operates its own racing team for running customers and their cars.
1996 saw Leastone venture into the British Championship with Ray Moore thanks to backing from Stena Line Ferries. This was to prove very successful for the marque which is based close to Mondello Park. Ray took the British title, and in doing so became the first Irish driver ever to take a British Championship in an Irish made car. Despite a number of victories and setting numerous lap records for Formula Vee in 1997, the team were unable to defend their title, and ended the year in the runner-up spot. The highlight of the 1997 season was a superb one-two at the Irish Formula Vee Festival, an event which was won again in 2000 by Moore.
1998 and 1999 saw the Kildare marque return to the top flight in the British Championship. Again with Ray Moore at the helm, the championship was secured with several wins and lap records. Having won the championship three times in four years, Moore felt that the only thing left to do, was to win the Irish Championship in a Leastone.
For the 2000 season, Moore raced exclusively in the Irish Championship. With 6 wins out of the ten championship races, Moore became the first Irish Formula Vee Champion of the new millennium. Leastone had to wait a year for their next title, when Englishman Trevor Welsh showed the class that won him 4 previous titles and duly took his JH002 to the 2002 UK title.
Late 2001 saw the launch of a new breed of race car as Paul Heavey proudly launched his latest creation, the Leastone DH01 prototype (later named Formula 5), at the Irish motor show in Dublin. The car was quite unique as it could be raced in either single seater or sports car form. The car was developed throughout 2002 and during the development process Heavey sought the talents of Formula Ford aces Alan Ring and Charlie Donnelly to provide additional feedback. The first customer car rolled out of the Kildare based workshop towards the end of ’02 and its owner, Brian Melia planned to race it in Formula Libre races in ’03. At the end of 2004, four formula 5’s existed with one of those being exported to the USA.
The Leastone team had to wait until 2004 for its next title, when Paul Heavey returned to the formula vee scene after a 3 year absence. Heavey had a hard run to the title with some mishaps along the way and he picked up 4 wins along the way, thanks to some astonishing race performances.
With more customer formula 5’s planned for 2005 along with the long awaited debut of the new JH004 formula vee, it seems the Leastone success story is far from over. With 4 UK titles and 2 Irish titles under their belt, Leastone are one of THE most successful teams in Formula Vee right now and are keen to maintain that status.
Leastone Racing Cars began back in 1993 when Irishman Paul Heavey, a Formula Vee regular, decided to design and build his own car for the Formula Vee market. Having raced the car with great success in '93 and '94, Heavey was approached by an interested Ray Moore, who wanted to try the car. At the end of 1994 he had his first test and this resulted in the first order for a Leastone Formula Vee chassis. Moore raced the first customer Leastone in 1995 and finished second overall in the Irish Championship along with winning the Phoenix Park.
Since then, Paul Heavey's Leastone Engineering Company has gone from strength to strength producing successful chassis for both Irish and British customers. Over 40 Formula Vees have been built by the Co. Kildare based constructor which now operates its own racing team for running customers and their cars.
1996 saw Leastone venture into the British Championship with Ray Moore thanks to backing from Stena Line Ferries. This was to prove very successful for the marque which is based close to Mondello Park. Ray took the British title, and in doing so became the first Irish driver ever to take a British Championship in an Irish made car. Despite a number of victories and setting numerous lap records for Formula Vee in 1997, the team were unable to defend their title, and ended the year in the runner-up spot. The highlight of the 1997 season was a superb one-two at the Irish Formula Vee Festival, an event which was won again in 2000 by Moore.
1998 and 1999 saw the Kildare marque return to the top flight in the British Championship. Again with Ray Moore at the helm, the championship was secured with several wins and lap records. Having won the championship three times in four years, Moore felt that the only thing left to do, was to win the Irish Championship in a Leastone.
For the 2000 season, Moore raced exclusively in the Irish Championship. With 6 wins out of the ten championship races, Moore became the first Irish Formula Vee Champion of the new millennium. Leastone had to wait a year for their next title, when Englishman Trevor Welsh showed the class that won him 4 previous titles and duly took his JH002 to the 2002 UK title.
Late 2001 saw the launch of a new breed of race car as Paul Heavey proudly launched his latest creation, the Leastone DH01 prototype (later named Formula 5), at the Irish motor show in Dublin. The car was quite unique as it could be raced in either single seater or sports car form. The car was developed throughout 2002 and during the development process Heavey sought the talents of Formula Ford aces Alan Ring and Charlie Donnelly to provide additional feedback. The first customer car rolled out of the Kildare based workshop towards the end of ’02 and its owner, Brian Melia planned to race it in Formula Libre races in ’03. At the end of 2004, four formula 5’s existed with one of those being exported to the USA.
The Leastone team had to wait until 2004 for its next title, when Paul Heavey returned to the formula vee scene after a 3 year absence. Heavey had a hard run to the title with some mishaps along the way and he picked up 4 wins along the way, thanks to some astonishing race performances.
With more customer formula 5’s planned for 2005 along with the long awaited debut of the new JH004 formula vee, it seems the Leastone success story is far from over. With 4 UK titles and 2 Irish titles under their belt, Leastone are one of THE most successful teams in Formula Vee right now and are keen to maintain that status.
