John Cleland (racing Driver)

John Cleland (racing Driver)

John Cleland (born 15 July 1952 in Wishaw, Scotland) is a retired Scottish auto racing driver. He raced autocross and hillclimb in the 1970s, before achieving success in British Production Car and Thundersaloon championships, before joining Vauxhall for the 1989 British Touring Car Championship. He is currently a co-commentator alongside Martin Haven on the English world feed of the World Touring Car Championship which is used by Eurosport.

Cleland adapted quickly and won the title 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. John 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 in 1990 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 John 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 John had to make do with fourth overall in both years.

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 John slipping to 12th in the standings and Vauxhall finishing bottom of the Constructors' title. 1998 was better, and John 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.