John Cleland (racing driver)

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.^[2] During this time the Commodore ran as a Vauxhall Senator.

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

 

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.^[5]

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.^[6]

In a 2005 poll by Motorsport Magazine, Cleland was voted the 10th greatest touring car driver of all time.^[7]

 

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.^[8] 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.^[9] He now runs a Volvo dealership in Galashiels Scotland.^[10] 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,^[11] alongside his contemporaries Patrick Watts and Tim Harvey.^[12]

(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	Dealer Opel Team	Opel Monza 3.0E	MNZ	VAL	BRH	SAL	BRN	PER	NUR	SIL 17	ZOL						NC	0
1981	Dealer Opel Team	Opel Monza 3.0E	MNZ	VAL	DON	SAL	BRN	PER	SIL Ret	ZOL							NC	0
1982	Monorep Ltd. Vauxhall Opel Dealers	Opel Monza 3.0E	MNZ	VAL	DON	PER	MUG	BRN	SAL	NUR	SPA	SIL 24	ZOL				NC	0
1983	GM Dealer Sport	Opel Monza 3.0E	MNZ	VAL	DON	PER	MUG	BRN	ZEL	NUR	SAL	SPA	SIL 13	ZOL			NC	0
1986	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

(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)

1. ^ – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded.

Year	Team	Co-driver	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
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 Team Sega	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

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

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Cleland (racing driver).

• Profile at BTCCPages
• Official site
• BRDC Archive profile
• Clelands of the Borders car dealership