Bas Leinders

Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a Belgian retired professional racing driver. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making seventeen appearances in all. He is also a former British Formula Ford and German Formula Three champion, winning the titles in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

Career Born in Bree, Leinders was one of the most successful Belgian racing drivers of the nineties and the beginning of the 21st century. He started his career in karting, winning his very first race. At the age of fourteen, he was already a European Champion beating Jarno Trulli, Ralph Firman and others. In 1992, Leinders was an official works driver for the Italian Tony Kart outfit.

Leinders started his car racing career in Formula Ford. He was not only crowned Benelux Champion but he also obtained the pole position at the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at his first participation, later becoming European and British Formula Ford Champion. Not being able to gather enough money to make the step to Formula Three, Leinders stepped up to the European Formula Opel Championship (for Van Amersfoort Racing). With a record of eight wins, he secured the Championship several races before the end.

With some more backing, Leinders graduated to the German Formula 3 series with VAR. He finished second in his maiden F3 weekend just behind Nick Heidfeld. In his second year, he won the championship and was invited by the McLaren Junior team to partner Nick Heidfeld in the last race of the Formula 3000 season. Leinders obtained his best F3000 results in 2001, finishing second twice behind Tomáš Enge and Justin Wilson respectively.

In 2002 and 2003, Leinders competed in the World Series by Nissan, finishing third in the Championship on both occasions. His good performance in this series and especially winning the last race of the season gave him the opportunity to test with the Jordan F1 Team which resulted in a contract with the Minardi F1 Team as an official Friday Test and reserve driver in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Leinders was pre-selected several times by journalists for the title "Belgian Sportsman of the Year". Leinders was crowned "Champion of Belgium" in 2001 by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium, the award presented by Crown-prince of Belgium, Prince Philippe. The Belgian also won the Golden Helmet in 2004 for his performances in Formula One with the Minardi F1 Team.

From 2005, Leinders was a regular racer in the FIA GT Championship with Belgian Racing, driving a Belgian-built Gillet Vertigo. In 2011, he became the team principal of the rebranded Marc VDS Racing, which was also his last year as full-time driver.

In 2014, Leinders ran the entire season of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series with Marc VDS Racing's Toyota Camry in the Elite 1 category. He finished the season in 14th place in the standings with two top-five finishes, one at Brands Hatch and one at Le Mans.

After Marc VDS's victory in the 2015 24 Hours of Spa, Leinders announced he parted ways with the team.

In 2016, Leinders became sporting manager of the McLaren GT factory programme and team manager of Garage 59. In 2018, he joined Optimum Motorsport.

Leinders has also worked as a colour analyst on Formula One broadcasts on Telenet's Play Sports.

Racing record

Career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Podiums Pole positions Points Position 1994 European Formula Ford MB Racing ? ? ? ? ? 13 8th Belgian Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? ? 1st 1995 British Formula Ford Championship Swift Racing Cars ? ? ? ? ? 127 1st European Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? 55 1st Formula Ford Festival 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF 1996 European Formula Opel Van Amersfoort Racing 16 7 10 ? 8 239 1st 1997 German Formula Three Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 18 0 4 2 1 100 7th Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF Monaco Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th 1998 German Formula Three Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 20 7 10 9 4 200 1st Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 8th Belcar MW-Racing ? ? ? ? ? 212 7th 1999 International F3000 KTR 7 0 0 0 0 1 23rd 2000 International F3000 Kid Jensen Racing 9 0 0 0 0 0 NC Belgian Procar MG Racing 7 0 1 1 1 67 9th Belcar GTB Team Beliën ? ? ? ? ? ? 1st 2001 International F3000 KTR 12 0 2 0 0 17 7th 2002 FIA GT Championship Carsport Holland 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC World Series by Nissan KTR 18 2 8 2 6 184 3rd 2003 World Series by Nissan Racing Engineering 18 2 4 2 1 128 3rd 2004 Formula One Minardi Test driver 2005 FIA GT Championship Belgian Racing 5 3 3 3 2 N/A – 2006 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 9 ? ? ? ? ? 1st 2007 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 8 ? ? ? ? ? 1st 2008 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 8 5 6 5 0 100 1st 2009 FIA GT Championship - GT1 Marc VDS Racing Team 8 0 0 0 0 9 14th

Career highlights 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Marc VDS Racing Team 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship – Marc VDS Racing Team 2009 FIA GT Championship – Ford GT 2008 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2 2007 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2 2006 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2 2005 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo – 3 class wins 2004 Formula One World Championship test driver in Minardi-Cosworth F1 Team. Did not participate in races 2003 3rd place – Superfund World Series – 2 wins. 2003 Winner TA Class 24 hours of Zolder in a BMW M3 GTR 2002 24 h of Spa in a Chrysler Viper GTS-R 2002 3rd place – Telefónica World Series – 2 wins . 2002 4th in 24 hours of Zolder in a BMW Z3 2001 Formula 3000 Championship – KTR 2-second places. 2000 Formula 3000 Championship – Kid Jensen Racing. 1999 Formula 3000 Championship – Witmeur Team KTR . 1999 3rd 24 hours of Spa 1998 German Formula 3 Champion 1998 2nd 24 hours of Zolder 1997 7th German Formula 3 Championship 1996 European Formula Opel Champion 1995 British and European Formula Ford Champion 1994 Benelux Formula Ford Champion 1992 Vice-European and Belgian Kart Champion 1991 Belgian Kart Champion 1990 European Kart Champion

Complete German Formula Three results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Pts 1997 Van Amersfoort Racing Opel A HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 LAH1 LAH2 NÜR1 NÜR2 7th 100 1998 Van Amersfoort Racing Opel A HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 NOR1 NOR2 LAH1 LAH2 WUN1 WUN2 ZWE1 ZWE2 SAL1 SAL2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 1st 200

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One participations (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points Wilux Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS* MAL BHR SMR ESP MON EUR CAN USA FRA GBR GER – – Minardi Cosworth HUN BEL ITA CHN JPN BRA Leinders was entered as third driver in Australian Grand Prix but was refused a superlicence until he completed the required mileage in an F1 car. He satisfied this requirement before the next race.

Complete GT1 World Championship results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Points Ref 2010 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford ABUQR6 ABUCR13 SILQR19 SILCR8 BRNQR16 BRNCRRet PRIQR20 PRICR4 SPAQR9 SPACRRet NÜRQRRet NÜRCR11 ALGQRRet ALGCR5 NAVQR3 NAVCR5 INTQR11 INTCR5 SANQR3 SANCRRet 14th 54 2011 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford ABUQR11 ABUCRDNS ZOLQRRet ZOLCR10 ALGQRRet ALGCR10 SACQRRet SACCR8 SILQR11 SILCR6 NAVQR12 NAVCR10 PRIQRRet PRICR12 ORDQR10 ORDCR10 BEIQRRet BEICRRet SANQRRet SANCR9 22nd 18

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Marc VDS Racing Team Eric De Doncker Markus Palttala Ford GT1 GT1 26 DNF DNF Kronos Racing Marc VDS Racing Team Vanina Ickx Maxime Martin Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 328 7th 7th OAK Racing David Heinemeier Hansson Maxime Martin Morgan LMP2-Nissan LMP2 341 14th 7th

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1 results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NWES Point Ref 2014 Racing Club Partners – Marc VDS 32 Toyota VAL VAL BRH BRH TOU TOU NUR NUR UMB UMB BUG BUG 14th 464