John Cleland

John Cunningham Cleland (born 15 July 1952) is a British retired 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 second 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 1601-2000cc cars. The 2-litre Cavalier was introduced the next year, in readiness for the single 2-litre format in 1991. Cleland finished second in class to his rival Frank Sytner in 1990 after a fierce season long battle, and fifth 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. left1995 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 eighth 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 tenth 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, Cleland 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 second 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)

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 Overallpos Pts Classpos 1989 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v OULovr:15cls:1 SILovr:19cls:1 THRovr:19cls:3 DONovr:9cls:1 THRovr:15cls:1 SILRet SILovr:21cls:1 BRHovr:14cls:1 SNEovr:16cls:1 BRHovr:14cls:1 BIRovr:16cls:1 DONovr:17cls:1 SILovr:20cls:1 1st 110 1st 1990 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier OULovr:7cls:3 DONRet THRovr:7cls:1 SILovr:7cls:2 OULRet SILovr:9cls:2 BRHRet SNEovr:6cls:1 BRHovr:7cls:1 BIRRet DONovr:12cls:6 THRRet SILovr:7cls:1 5th 128 2nd 1991 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL SNE DON THR SIL BRH SIL DON1 DON2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 DON THR SIL 2nd 132 1992 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL THR OUL SNE BRH DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 PEM BRH1 BRH2 DON SIL 3rd 145 1993 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier SIL DON SNE DON OUL BRH1 BRH2 PEM SIL KNO1 KNO2 OUL BRH THR DON1 DON2 SIL 4th 102 1994 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 16v THR BRH1 BRH2 SNE SIL1 SIL2 OUL DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 OUL BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 4th 177 1995 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 16v DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 SNE1 SNE2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 1st 348 1996 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 SNE1 SNE2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 KNO1 KNO2 OUL1 OUL2 THR1 THR2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 8th 97 1997 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra DON1 DON2 SIL1 SIL2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 KNO1 KNO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 SIL1 SIL2 12th 44 1998 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 8th 106 1999 Vauxhall Motorsport Vauxhall Vectra DON1 DON2 SIL1 SIL2 THR1 THR2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 DON1 DON2 CRO1 CRO2 SNE1 SNE2 THR1 THR2 KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 13th 51

– 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 NC 0 2000 Gibson Motorsport 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 SAN R30 SAN R31 SAN R32 BAT R33 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 WIN R22 WIN R23 BAT R24 PUK R25 PUK R26 PUK R27 SAN R28 SAN R29 SAN R30 37th 520 2002 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon AU ADER1 ADER2 PHIR3 PHIR4 EASR5 EASR6 EASR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 CANR11 CANR12 CANR13 BARR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 WINR19 WINR20 QLDR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 51st 60 2003 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADER1 ADER1 PHIR3 EASR4 WINR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 HDVR11 QLDR12 ORAR13 SANR14 BATR15 SURR16 SURR17 PUKR18 PUKR19 PUKR20 EASR21 EASR22 41st 160 2004 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADER1 ADER2 EASR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 PUKR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 BARR10 BARR11 BARR12 QLDR13 WINR14 ORAR15 ORAR16 SANR17 BATR18 SURR19 SURR20 SYMR21 SYMR22 SYMR23 EASR24 EASR25 EASR26 NC 0 2005 Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon BA ADER1 ADER2 PUKR3 PUKR4 PUKR5 BARR6 BARR7 BARR8 EASR9 EASR10 SHAR11 SHAR12 SHAR13 HDVR14 HDVR15 HDVR16 QLDR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 SANR20 BATR21 SURR22 SURR23 SURR24 SYMR25 SYMR26 SYMR27 PHIR28 PHIR29 PHIR30 42nd 168

Complete Bathurst 1000 results Year Team Co-driver Car Class Laps 1993 Mobil 1 Racing Peter Brock Holden Commodore VP A 142 17th 17th 1995 Pinnacle Motorsport Tony Scott Holden Commodore VR 158 6th 6th 1996 Gibson Motorsport Mark Skaife Holden Commodore VR 159 7th 7th 1997* Vauxhall Sport James Kaye Vauxhall Vectra 32 DNF DNF 1998* Vauxhall Sport Derek Warwick Vauxhall Vectra ST 157 5th 5th 1999 Greenfield Mowers Racing Cameron McLean Ford Falcon EL 138 DNF DNF 2000 Gibson Motorsport Rodney Forbes Holden Commodore VT 78 DNF DNF 2001 OzEmail Racing Team Brad Jones Ford Falcon AU 161 2nd 2nd 2002 OzEmail Racing Team Tim Leahey Ford Falcon AU 157 19th 19th 2003 OzEmail Racing Team Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BA 160 9th 9th 2004 OzEmail Racing Team Andrew Jones Ford Falcon BA 29 DNF DNF 2005 Team BOC 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 THR1 CRO1 OUL1 DON1 SIL1 BRH1 DON1 CRO1 SIL1 SNE1 SPA1 SIL1 21st 28 Cirtek Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R GTO THR1 CRO1 OUL1 DON1 SIL1 BRH1 DON1 CRO1 SIL1 SNE1 SPA1 SIL1 25th 12