Leigh Diffey (born 3 March 1971) is an
Australian American
Australian Americans are Americans who have Australian ancestry.
History
The history of the Australian American population almost follows the story of both British Americans and Irish Americans, as Australia was a British overseas territory, Brit ...
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
commentator. His career began calling motorcycle races in his home country before moving to the United Kingdom to cover other forms of motorsport. Diffey then moved to the United States to join
Speed Channel
Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...
, while simultaneously working for
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
in Australia. Since 2013, he has served as a play-by-play announcer and studio host with
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
in the United States.
Early career: Network Ten and BBC
Diffey grew up in
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
where he briefly raced motorcycles with his friend
Daryl Beattie
Daryl Beattie (born 26 September 1970 in Charleville, Queensland, Australia) is a former Grand Prix solo motorcycle road racer.
Motorsport career
Beattie posted several good results at the beginning of the 1992 500cc Grand Prix season then te ...
, who eventually became a professional motorcycle racer.
Diffey, meanwhile, pursued a career in motorsports broadcasting; his first job came in 1990 at the age of 19, calling Ipswich Motorcycle Club racing at Tivoli Raceway. Diffey also worked as a physical education teacher
at
Ipswich Grammar School; he left in 1995 to pursue a full-time career in television and sportscasting.
Prior to his move to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Diffey commentated on the
Superbike World Championship and presented coverage of the
World Rally Championship for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
,
working alongside
Steve Parrish and
Suzi Perry
Suzi Perry (born 3 May 1970) is a British television presenter, currently covering MotoGP for BT Sport. She is best known for covering MotoGP for the BBC for 13 years, ''The Gadget Show'' on Channel 5 for 8 years and the BBC's Formula One cove ...
. Additionally, Diffey covered
V8 Supercars with
Greg Rust
Gregory Paul Rust (born 19 July 1970 in Sydney) is an Australian motor racing journalist and presenter. He has previously worked for Network Ten, the Nine Network and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) as a freelance commentator/reporter/ ...
,
Barry Sheene
Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing even ...
,
Bill Woods
William Woods (born 1962 in Moruya, New South Wales) is an Australian television journalist, radio and television broadcaster, and author. He is best known as the presenter, alongside Sandra Sully, of Network Ten's '' Ten News at Five'' in Sydn ...
and
Mark Oastler
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
, as well as
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing, both for
Network Ten
Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...
.
He also covered the
12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...
, an event for he would call for a total of ten years.
2003–2012: Speed Channel and return to Network Ten
In 2001, Diffey moved to the US to cover the American-based open-wheel racing
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people.
It is different from the flatbed tr ...
series,
while still working for the BBC. Two years later in 2003, Diffey made a full-time move to the States when he was hired by
Speed Channel
Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...
, which later simply became "Speed".
At Speed, Diffey was the play-by-play announcer for the network's coverage of the
Speed World Challenge
The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the Stephane Ratel Organisation since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club s ...
, the
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
, the
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
,
the
Rolex Grand-Am Cup,
the SCCA
Trans-Am Series
The Trans-Am Series is a sports car racing series held in North America. Founded in 1966, it is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA).
Primarily based in the United States, the series competes on a variety of track types includ ...
, and a regular anchor of ''
The Speed Report
''Speed Center'' was a motor sports news program on Speed Channel. Debuting on February 13, 2011, it was anchored by Adam Alexander with Jeff Hammond and Sam Hornish Jr. as analysts on Sunday episodes. Ricky Rudd was the analyst for the first ...
'' and ''
Speed Center
''Speed Center'' was a motor sports news program on Speed Channel. Debuting on February 13, 2011, it was anchored by Adam Alexander with Jeff Hammond and Sam Hornish Jr. as analysts on Sunday episodes. Ricky Rudd was the analyst for the first ...
''.
Diffey occasionally filled in for Speed commentator
Bob Varsha during the network's
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
broadcasts.
He also commentated selected rounds of the AMA Superbike and
AMA Motocross Championships.
Diffey worked with Speed to call several sports car races during his tenure with the network, including the
24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
and the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
.
While at Speed, Diffey also occasionally returned to Network Ten in Australia as a regular host for the network's nightly sports wrap, ''
Sports Tonight''.
He also covered other two other sports for the Australian network: sailing, hosting coverage of the
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately . The race is run i ...
, and golf, which he covered for five years. In 2011 alone, he covered no fewer than sixteen individual divisions of motorsport on Speed.
2013–present: NBC Sports
Motorsports
Formula One and IndyCar
In November 2012,
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
announced that Diffey would join its network to become the play-by-play announcer for its broadcasts of both
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
and
IndyCar
INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
events starting in 2013.
Diffey called the day of the announcement "one of the best days of my life. People have been so complimentary."
The announcement named
David Hobbs and
Steve Matchett
Steve Matchett (born 23 December 1962 in England) is a commentator for American TV network Fox Sports on its Formula E programming. He formerly co-hosted live Formula One practices, qualifying sessions, and races alongside David Hobbs and Bob ...
as the analysts who would work alongside him for the Formula One broadcasts. In December 2015, Diffey, Hobbs and Matchett were given an Honorable Mention in a list of Best Broadcast Teams of the year published on the ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' website SI.com.
On two occasions, Diffey covered both series on the same day. On 23 August 2015, he called the
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix (French language, French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch language, Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German language, German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula O ...
from NBC's base in Stamford, Connecticut, before he and Matchett traveled to
Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
for the
ABC Supply 500.
Likewise, on 3 September 2017, Diffey called the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
in Connecticut and then traveled to
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
for the
IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen. Diffey's open-wheel focus shifted solely to IndyCar in 2018 when the US Formula One television rights were transferred to
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
.
NASCAR
Diffey was one of several recurring co-hosts of ''
NASCAR America
''NASCAR America'' is Peacock's biweekly NASCAR news program, broadcast Mondays and Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. ET. The show made its debut on February 24, 2014, the day after the 2014 Daytona 500.
History
Starting in 2015, the show was host ...
'', a weekday NBCSN program dedicated to NASCAR. While he had covered NASCAR practice and qualifying sessions with Speed,
it was not until his tenure with NBC that he made his NASCAR debut as a play-by-play announcer for a race, covering the
Xfinity Series (NXS) at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...
on 15 August 2015.
After calling the race, Diffey spoke of the experience as "a thrill...I've been a NASCAR fan and dabbled in it, and for that to be my first race was something else."
He also commentated the Richmond, Dover, and Kansas NXS races.
Diffey made his
Sprint Cup Series broadcasting debut alongside
Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...
at
Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2015, leading NBCSN's "Hot Pass" coverage of NASCAR's championship race, which focused solely on the four drivers still eligible for the series championship. Diffey reprised this role with
Parker Kligerman
Parker L. Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing. Kligerman is a former development driver ...
in the 2016 Homestead race, and again with Jarrett in 2017, 2018, and 2019.
In August 2017, Diffey served as the lead announcer for ''
NASCAR on NBC''s primary coverage of the renamed
Monster Energy Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...
for two races (Watkins Glen and Michigan), filling in for regular announcer
Rick Allen who was working in London with NBC's coverage of the
2017 IAAF World Championships
Seventeen or 17 may refer to:
*17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18
* one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017
Literature
Magazines
* ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine
* ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...
.
Global Rallycross
Diffey served as lead announcer for several events of NBCSN's coverage of
Red Bull Global Rallycross beginning with the opening event from Fort Lauderdale in the
2015 season. He continued to cover the series for the network until the series folded, doing play-by-play for the final round of the
2017 season from the Port of Los Angeles on 14 October.
Dakar Rally
Diffey serves as the US announcer for the daily world feed highlight broadcast of the
Dakar Rally on NBCSN.
IMSA
Diffey returned to sports car racing in 2019 as the lead announcer for NBC Sports' coverage of IMSA's
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, beginning with the
2019 24 Hours of Daytona
The 2019 24 Hours of Daytona (formally the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona) was an International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned endurance sports car race held at the Daytona International Speedway combined road course in Daytona Beach, Flo ...
.
Motorcycles
Diffey began calling the
AMA Supercross Championship in 2020, working play-by-play for NBC for the series along with
Ralph Sheheen
Ralph Sheheen (born August 23, 1964) is an American sports announcer. He is one of the lead broadcasters of NASCAR Xfinity Series on NBCSN, and was the lead commentator of Feld Entertainment's AMA Supercross Championship from 2006 until 2020. He ...
.
Diffey took over the lead commentating role replacing Sheheen starting the 2021 season with
Ricky Carmichael
Richard Joseph Carmichael (born November 27, 1979) is an American former professional motocross and stock car racing driver. He competed in the AMA Motocross Championships from 1997 to 2007 and in NASCAR from 2008 to 2011. Carmichael is notable ...
, Daniel Blair, and Will Christien.
He also served as a studio host for the network's
MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...
and Moto2 coverage.
Other sports
Diffey has worked on NBC's coverage of the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, covering
luge
A luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first. A luger steers by using the calf muscles to flex the sled's runners or by exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh for s ...
,
skeleton
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...
, and
bobsled
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
at the
2014 Winter Games
, ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'')
, nations = 88
, events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, athletes = 2,873
, opening = 7 February 2014
, closing = 23 February 2014
, opened_by = President Vladimir Putin
, cauldron =
, stadium = Fisht Olympic ...
in Sochi. NBC executive Sam Flood had expressed interest in having him serve as an announcer outside of motorsports while negotiating his contract with the network,
and he prepared Diffey for the Olympics by having him host the
Penn Relays and the
Luge World Cup
The Luge World Cup season is a yearly competition first organized by the International Luge Federation
The International Luge Federation ( French: Fédération Internationale de Luge de Course (FIL); German: Internationaler Rennrodelverband) is ...
.
Diffey remarked of serving in the Olympics: "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine this is where my career would take me. Just working for NBC, that alone made my life. Now going to the Olympics for NBC? I just pinch myself as if to wonder is this really happening?"
He returned to the Olympics to cover
rowing at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in Rio de Janeiro,
and also called the same events he had in Sochi at the
2018 Winter Games in Pyongchang.
Beyond the Olympics, Diffey has covered rugby, anchoring studio coverage of
Premiership Rugby
Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...
and doing play-by-play for the
Collegiate Rugby Championship
The Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) is an annual college rugby sevens tournament. The CRC is the highest profile college rugby sevens competition in the United States, with the tournament broadcast live on NBC from 2010–2017, on ESPN News an ...
. He also covered the
Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...
in 2018, as well as the
2019 World Athletics Championships
The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...
.
In 2021, Diffey took over as the NBC track and field commentator, covering both the US Olympic trials and the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
.
Personal life
Diffey obtained his United States citizenship in 2011,
explaining, "This country has given me so much, and I felt I needed to give back. That's why I accepted US citizenship. I'm Australian and I'm also American."
A former resident of
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
,
he currently resides in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
with his wife and two children.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diffey, Leigh
Olympic Games broadcasters
1971 births
Living people
American sports announcers
American people of Australian descent
Australian sports broadcasters
Motorsport announcers
Australian television presenters
Australian sports journalists
Australian car collectors
Track and field broadcasters