John Cleland (racing driver)

John Cleland
Cleland in 2017
NationalityUnited Kingdom British
Born (1952-07-15) 15 July 1952 (age 71)
Wishaw, Scotland
BTCC record
TeamsVauxhall
Drivers'
championships
2
Wins17 outright, plus 15 more in class
Podium finishes98
Poles19
Fastest laps11
Debut season1989
First win1991 (outright), 1989 (class)
Best championship position1st (1989, 1995)
Final season (1999) position13th

John Cunningham Cleland (born 15 July 1952) is a retired Scottish auto racing driver, best known for winning the British Touring Car Championship in 1989 and 1995.

Born in Wishaw, Cleland raced autocross and hillclimb in the 1970s, and won his class in the Scottish Rally Championship in 1976 driving a Mitsubishi Colt. He switched to circuit racing, achieving success in British Production Car and Thundersaloon championships in the 1980s, before joining Vauxhall for the 1989 British Touring Car Championship. He was most recently a co-commentator alongside Martin Haven on the English world feed of the World Touring Car Championship.

Racing career

Pre-BTCC

In the mid-1980s, Cleland's father Bill purchased the 1984 Bathurst 1000 2nd place Holden VK Commodore (an Australian car) from Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team for his son to race in Thundersaloons. During this time the Commodore ran as a Vauxhall Senator.

BTCC

Cleland adapted quickly to touring car racing and won the BTCC at his first attempt, in the days when the championship consisted of four separate classes, each in their own races but scoring points for the same title. Cleland won 11 of his 13 races in class C for 1.5l cars. The 2-litre Cavalier was introduced the next year, in readiness for the single 2-litre format in 1991. Cleland finished 2nd in class to his rival Frank Sytner in 1990 after a fierce season long battle, and 5th overall. The following year he won three races and finished second in the championship to Will Hoy, taking Vauxhall's first ever overall BTCC win. In 1992 Cleland battled with Hoy and Tim Harvey for the title, but was denied at the last round by a controversial collision with Steve Soper, the teammate of eventual champion Harvey. In 1993 and 1994 the championship was dominated by BMW and Alfa Romeo respectively, and Cleland had to make do with fourth overall in both years.

Cleland driving for Vauxhall in the 1996 British Touring Car Championship.

1995 proved to be the breakthrough year for the Cavalier, ironically in its last year of competition. Despite the Volvo 850 and Renault Laguna often having the edge in speed, in the hands of Rickard Rydell and Alain Menu respectively, Cleland's consistent run of points finishes allied to a four-race winning streak in the mid-season allowed him to beat both drivers to the title.

For 1996, the Cavalier was replaced by the new Vectra, which turned out to be a problematic package. Cleland finished 8th in the title chase. 1997 proved to be even worse, with Cleland slipping to 12th in the standings and Vauxhall finishing bottom of the Constructors' title. 1998 was better, and Cleland took two victories, both at Donington Park - a traditional happy hunting ground for the Scotsman - before a heavy crash at Snetterton interrupted his season. In 1999 Cleland was outpaced by team newcomer Yvan Muller and decided by mid-season to retire. He finished his last race at a wet Silverstone in tenth place, after being given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pits, which provoked a typically belligerent reaction from Cleland over a live radio link to his car that had been set up by the BBC.

In a 2005 poll by Motorsport Magazine, Cleland was voted the 10th greatest touring car driver of all time.

Post BTCC

Cleland driving for Vauxhall in the 1998 British Touring Car Championship.

Aside running his long running car dealership, he has done several guest drives since retiring from the BTCC, including a season in a Dodge Viper in the British GT Championship in 2000, co driving with Dave Clark for the CSi Brookspeed team. He later drove in an ASCAR race at Rockingham, twelve Bathurst 1000s between 1993 and 2005 for Advantage Racing, Pinnacle Motorsport, Gibson Motorsport, Triple Eight, Greenfield Mowers Racing and Brad Jones Racing with a best finish of 2nd in the 2001 event, co driving with Brad Jones, and the BTCC Masters race in 2004. He now runs a Volvo dealership in Galashiels Scotland. His son Jamie has started a racing career. Cleland is also a co-commentator for Eurosport on their WTCC coverage. He replaced fellow Scot David Leslie after his death in 2008.

Cleland purchased his old Vauxhall Vectra super tourer, and now races in the Historic Super Touring championship, alongside his contemporaries Patrick Watts and Tim Harvey.

Racing record

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Pts
1980 United Kingdom Dealer Opel Team Opel Monza 3.0E MNZ VAL BRH SAL BRN PER NUR SIL
17
ZOL NC 0
1981 United Kingdom Dealer Opel Team Opel Monza 3.0E MNZ VAL DON SAL BRN PER SIL
Ret
ZOL NC 0
1982 United Kingdom Monorep Ltd. Vauxhall Opel Dealers Opel Monza 3.0E MNZ VAL DON PER MUG BRN SAL NUR SPA SIL
24
ZOL NC 0
1983 United Kingdom GM Dealer Sport Opel Monza 3.0E MNZ VAL DON PER MUG BRN ZEL NUR SAL SPA SIL
13
ZOL NC 0
1986 United Kingdom GM Dealer Sport Holden VK Commodore SS Group A MNZ DON HOC MIS AND BRN ZEL NÜR SPA SIL
Ret
NOG ZOL JAR EST NC 0

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicate pole position (1 point awarded all races 1996 onwards, 1989–1990 in class) Races in italics indicate fastest lap (1 point awarded all races - 1989–1990 in class) * signifies that driver lead feature race for at least one lap (1 point awarded - 1998 onwards)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Overall
pos
Pts Class
pos
1989 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v C OUL
15
SIL
19
THR
19
DON
9
THR
15
SIL
Ret
SIL
21
BRH
14
SNE
16
BRH
14
BIR
16
DON
17
SIL
20
1st 110 1st
1990 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier B OUL
7
DON
Ret
THR
7
SIL
7
OUL
Ret
SIL
9
BRH
Ret
SNE
6
BRH
7
BIR
Ret
DON
12
THR
Ret
SIL
7
5th 128 2nd
1991 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL
3
SNE
9
DON
2
THR
1
SIL
11
BRH
12
SIL
6
DON
1

3
DON
2

10
OUL
1
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

3
DON
1
THR
8
SIL
9
2nd 132
1992 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL
1
THR
1
OUL
11
SNE
2
BRH
1
DON
1

2
DON
2

4
SIL
3
KNO
1

DSQ
KNO
2

3
PEM
Ret
BRH
1

4
BRH
2

3
DON
3
SIL
Ret
3rd 145
1993 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL
3
DON
4
SNE
10
DON
7
OUL
2
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

5
PEM
7
SIL
6
KNO
1

1
KNO
2

2
OUL
3
BRH
12
THR
8
DON
1

Ret
DON
2

6
SIL
7
4th 102
1994 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 16v THR
2
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

2
SNE
Ret
SIL
1

7
SIL
2

4
OUL
7
DON
1

1
DON
2

1
BRH
1

5
BRH
2

4
SIL
DNS
KNO
1

5
KNO
2

6
OUL
Ret
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

DNS
SIL
1

4
SIL
2

4
DON
1

8
DON
2

5
4th 177
1995 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 16v DON
1

1
DON
2

2
BRH
1

Ret
BRH
2

Ret
THR
1

2
THR
2

5
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

5
OUL
1

2
OUL
2

3
BRH
1

2
BRH
2

1
DON
1

1
DON
2

1
SIL
1
KNO
1

5
KNO
2

6
BRH
1

3
BRH
2

1
SNE
1

13
SNE
2

3
OUL
1

3
OUL
2

2
SIL
1

3
SIL
2

3
1st 348
1996 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra DON
1

5
DON
2

6
BRH
1

7
BRH
2

Ret
THR
1

4
THR
2

4
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

Ret
OUL
1

Ret
OUL
2

9
SNE
1

3
SNE
2

2
BRH
1

10
BRH
2

4
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

Ret
KNO
1

Ret
KNO
2

6
OUL
1

7
OUL
2

7
THR
1

5
THR
2

7
DON
1

6
DON
2

8
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

Ret
8th 97
1997 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra DON
1

11
DON
2

Ret
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

6
THR
1

14
THR
2

9
BRH
1

11
BRH
2

9
OUL
1

5
OUL
2

12
DON
1

12
DON
2

8
CRO
1

6
CRO
2

5
KNO
1

10
KNO
2

6
SNE
1

7
SNE
2

16
THR
1

19
THR
2

11
BRH
1

13
BRH
2

12
SIL
1

12
SIL
2

11
12th 44
1998 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra THR
1

4
THR
2

6
SIL
1

6
SIL
2

7
DON
1

1
DON
2

3*
BRH
1

6
BRH
2

9*
OUL
1

7
OUL
2

6*
DON
1

5
DON
2

1*
CRO
1

6
CRO
2

8
SNE
1

9
SNE
2

Ret
THR
1

THR
2

KNO
1

13
KNO
2

Ret
BRH
1

8
BRH
2

Ret
OUL
1

9
OUL
2

11
SIL
1

8
SIL
2

Ret
8th 106
1999 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra DON
1

8
DON
2

4*
SIL
1

10
SIL
2

8
THR
1

7
THR
2

9
BRH
1

8
BRH
2

9
OUL
1

12
OUL
2

Ret
DON
1

6
DON
2

Ret
CRO
1

9
CRO
2

Ret
SNE
1

12
SNE
2

12
THR
1

12
THR
2

Ret
KNO
1

8
KNO
2

9
BRH
1

11
BRH
2

9
OUL
1

8
OUL
2

Ret
SIL
1

5
SIL
2

10
13th 51
  1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

Complete V8 Supercar Championship results

Supercars results
Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Position Points
1999 Greenfield Mowers Racing Ford Falcon EL EAS
R1
EAS
R2
EAS
R3
ADE
R4
BAR
R5
BAR
R6
BAR
R7
PHI
R8
PHI
R9
PHI
R10
HID
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
SAN
R14
SAN
R15
SAN
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
QLD
R19
CAL
R20
CAL
R21
CAL
R22
SYM
R23
SYM
R24
SYM
R25
WIN
R26
WIN
R27
WIN
R28
ORA
R29
ORA
R30
ORA
R31
QLD
R32
BAT
R33

Ret
NC 0
2000 Gibson Motor Sport Holden Commodore VT PHI
R1
PHI
R2
BAR
R3
BAR
R4
BAR
R5
ADE
R6
ADE
R7
EAS
R8
EAS
R9
EAS
R10
HID
R11
HID
R12
HID
R13
CAN
R14
CAN
R15
CAN
R16
QLD
R17
QLD
R18
QLD
R19
WIN
R20
WIN
R21
WIN
R22
ORA
R23
ORA
R24
ORA
R25
CAL
R26
CAL
R27
CAL
R28
QLD
R29

14
SAN
R30
SAN
R31
SAN
R32
BAT
R33

Ret
51st 48
2001 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon AU PHI
R1
PHI
R2
ADE
R3
ADE
R4
EAS
R5
EAS
R6
HID
R7
HID
R8
HID
R9
CAN
R10
CAN
R11
CAN
R12
BAR
R13
BAR
R14
BAR
R15
CAL
R16
CAL
R17
CAL
R18
ORA
R19
ORA
R20
QLD
R21

Ret
WIN
R22
WIN
R23
BAT
R24

2
PUK
R25
PUK
R26
PUK
R27
SAN
R28
SAN
R29
SAN
R30
37th 520
2002 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon AU ADE
R1
ADE
R2
PHI
R3
PHI
R4
EAS
R5
EAS
R6
EAS
R7
HDV
R8
HDV
R9
HDV
R10
CAN
R11
CAN
R12
CAN
R13
BAR
R14
BAR
R15
BAR
R16
ORA
R17
ORA
R18
WIN
R19
WIN
R20
QLD
R21

17
BAT
R22

19
SUR
R23
SUR
R24
PUK
R25
PUK
R26
PUK
R27
SAN
R28
SAN
R29
51st 60
2003 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADE
R1
ADE
R1
PHI
R3
EAS
R4
WIN
R5
BAR
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
HDV
R9
HDV
R10
HDV
R11
QLD
R12
ORA
R13
SAN
R14

20
BAT
R15

9
SUR
R16
SUR
R17
PUK
R18
PUK
R19
PUK
R20
EAS
R21
EAS
R22
41st 160
2004 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADE
R1
ADE
R2
EAS
R3
PUK
R4
PUK
R5
PUK
R6
HDV
R7
HDV
R8
HDV
R9
BAR
R10
BAR
R11
BAR
R12
QLD
R13
WIN
R14
ORA
R15
ORA
R16
SAN
R17

Ret
BAT
R18

Ret
SUR
R19
SUR
R20
SYM
R21
SYM
R22
SYM
R23
EAS
R24
EAS
R25
EAS
R26
NC 0
2005 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADE
R1
ADE
R2
PUK
R3
PUK
R4
PUK
R5
BAR
R6
BAR
R7
BAR
R8
EAS
R9
EAS
R10
SHA
R11
SHA
R12
SHA
R13
HDV
R14
HDV
R15
HDV
R16
QLD
R17
ORA
R18
ORA
R19
SAN
R20

21
BAT
R21

7
SUR
R22
SUR
R23
SUR
R24
SYM
R25
SYM
R26
SYM
R27
PHI
R28
PHI
R29
PHI
R30
42nd 168

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Co-driver Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1993 Australia Mobil 1 Racing Australia Peter Brock Holden Commodore VP A 142 17th 17th
1995 Australia Pinnacle Motorsport Australia Tony Scott Holden Commodore VR 158 6th 6th
1996 Australia Gibson Team Sega Australia Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VR 159 7th 7th
1997* United Kingdom Vauxhall Sport United Kingdom James Kaye Vauxhall Vectra 32 DNF DNF
1998* United Kingdom Vauxhall Sport United Kingdom Derek Warwick Vauxhall Vectra ST 157 5th 5th
1999 Australia Greenfield Mowers Racing Australia Cameron McLean Ford Falcon EL 138 DNF DNF
2000 Australia Gibson Motorsport Australia Rodney Forbes Holden Commodore VT 78 DNF DNF
2001 Australia OzEmail Racing Team Australia Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU 161 2nd 2nd
2002 Australia OzEmail Racing Team Australia Tim Leahey Ford Falcon AU 157 19th 19th
2003 Australia OzEmail Racing Team Australia Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BA 160 9th 9th
2004 Australia OzEmail Racing Team Australia Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BA 29 DNF DNF
2005 Australia Team BOC Australia Dale Brede Ford Falcon BA 159 7th 7th

* Super Touring race

Complete British GT Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Points
2000 CSi Brookspeed Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R GT THR
1

CRO
1

OUL
1

Ret
DON
1

4
SIL
1

3
BRH
1

WD
DON
1

3
CRO
1

WD
SIL
1

SNE
1

SPA
1

SIL
1

21st 28
Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R GTO THR
1

5
CRO
1

WD
OUL
1

DON
1

SIL
1

BRH
1

DON
1

CRO
1

SIL
1

SNE
1

SPA
1

SIL
1

25th 12

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