Leigh Diffey

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Leigh Diffey (born on March 3, 1971 in Brisbane) is an Australian auto racing commentator with the SPEED Pay-TV network in the United States. He has also worked in Britain and in his homeland of Australia, where he commentated on Champ Car and V8 Supercars for Network Ten in Australia. Jokingly referred to as "Stiffey" by fans and fellow commentators.

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[edit] Pre Television

Prior to his Commentary and TV career, Leigh was a PE Teacher at Ipswich Grammar School, leaving in 1995/6 to pursue his love of Motor Sports and Television.

[edit] BBC career

Prior to his 2001 trip to the United States, Diffey commentated on the Superbike World Championship and presented coverage of the World Rally Championship for the BBC in the United Kingdom.

[edit] SPEED career

In 2001 Diffey filled in for Guy Hobbs covering the Champ Car series for ESPN International at the Rockingham 500 and the American Memorial 500 at Lausitzring alongside Jeremy Shaw and Ben Edwards respectively.

In 2001, Diffey was hired by SPEED, when it was known as SpeedVision. At SPEED, Diffey was the lap-by-lap announcer for the network's coverage of the SPEED World Challenge, the American Le Mans Series, the Rolex Sports Car Series, the Rolex Grand-Am Cup, the SCCA Trans-Am Series, and an occasional SPEEDNews anchor and Formula One host. He also did occasional lap-by-lap coverage of the NASCAR Busch North Series.

[edit] Network Ten career

In 2004, to the shock and dismay of SPEED viewers, Diffey left the network. He has returned to his native Australia, where he has returned to broadcasting Australian V8 Supercars and Formula One Coverage for Network Ten. He did, though, return to SPEED on occasion to call the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans. Diffey is also a fill-in host for Network Ten's nightly sports wrap, Sports Tonight. His last Sports Tonight broadcast was Sunday 3rd, December 2006. He announced that he was returning to the United States, where he rejoined SPEED starting with the 2007 Rolex 24 Hour race at Daytona.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Casamento, Jo (1999). "Moving for Mel." The Sunday Telegraph. February 21.
  • Corby, Stephen (2006). "F1 Royalty Gather For Grand Prix." The Sunday Mail. April 2.
  • Waddell, B. (1998). "Bikes or Boats--What's the Diff?" Sunday Mail (Queensland). March 1.