Geoff Lees (racing driver)

Last updated

Geoff Lees
Geoff Lees Shadow DN11 2018 British Grand Prix (29871053688).jpg
Lees' Shadow DN11 at the 2018 British Grand Prix
Born (1951-05-01) 1 May 1951 (age 73)
Kingsbury, Warwickshire England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British
Active years 19781980, 1982
Teams Tyrrell, Ensign, Shadow, RAM, Theodore, Lotus
Entries12 (5 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums0
Career points0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First entry 1978 British Grand Prix
Last entry 1982 French Grand Prix

Geoffrey Thompson Lees (born 1 May 1951) is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in 12 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, making his first appearance on 16 July 1978. He scored no championship points.

Contents

Career

Lees was born near Kingsbury, Warwickshire. His first Grand Prix chance came with a non-works Ensign ran by Mario Deliotti, the owner of an Alfa Romeo dealership in Birmingham, at his home race in 1978. Lees failed to qualify. The following year he had a one-off drive for Tyrrell, before a more regular ride with the struggling Shadow team in 1980. Later that year he also drove for the works Ensign team, and failed to qualify a RAM-entered Williams in the US. He participated in the Formula One non-championship race held on 7 February 1981 at Kyalami for Theodore where he went into the crash barriers on lap 11 due to a broken front suspension. In the hope of taking one step backward and then two steps forward, he joined Ralt-Honda for the European Formula Two championship. He won the championship, but his hopes of "re-entering Formula One with more dignity" were quashed when Honda decided to spend another year developing their F1 engine. [1] Lees, one year ahead of Honda failed to find a good seat at the highest level, and his F1 career petered out in 1982 with single drives for Theodore and Lotus.

In his Formula One career, Lees seemed stuck in uncompetitive cars, and when success proved elusive, he moved to Japan in the early 1980s. There he enjoyed a long career in the Japanese Formula Two, winning the 1983 title and collecting eight wins. He also represented various Japanese marques in sports car racing championships such as the Fuji Grand Champion Series, where he won three titles in 1986, 1988 and 1989, and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, where he got the C-class title in 1992. Lees became a highly paid and highly respected part of the Japanese racing scene. He has also driven at Le Mans numerous times, with his best finish being a sixth place overall in 1990.

Racing record

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

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

YearTeamCarClass12345678910DCPtsClass
1976 British Leyland Triumph Dolomite Sprint C BRH SIL OUL THR THR SIL BRH MAL
9†
SNE BRH
Ret
38th310th
Source: [2]

Complete European Formula Two Championship results

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

YearEntrantChassisEngine123456789101112Pos.Pts
1978 Polifac BMW Junior Team March 782 BMW THR HOC NÜR PAU MUG VAL ROU DON
Ret
14th4
Raven Racing Chevron B42 Hart NOG
6
PER
DNQ
MIS
4
HOC
Ret
1980 Ralt Racing Ralt RH6/80 Honda THR HOC NÜR VAL PAU SIL ZOL MUG ZAN PER MIS HOC
Ret
NC0
1981 Ralt Racing Ralt RH6/81 Honda SIL
7
HOC
5
THR
NC
NÜR
5
VAL
5
MUG
2
PAU
1
PER
Ret
SPA
1
DON
1
MIS
2
MAN
2
1st51
Sources: [3]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

YearEntrantChassisEngine12345678910111213141516WDC Pts
1978 Mario Deliotti Racing Ensign N175 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE FRA GBR
DNQ
GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN NC0
1979 Candy Tyrrell Team Tyrrell 009 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER
7
AUT NED ITA CAN USA NC0
1980 Shadow Cars Shadow DN11 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 ARG BRA RSA
13
USW
DNQ
NC0
Shadow DN12 BEL
DNQ
Theodore Shadow MON
DNQ
FRA
DNQ
GBR GER AUT
Unipart Racing Team Ensign N180 NED
Ret
ITA
DNQ
CAN
RAM Racing Williams FW07B USA
DNQ
1982 Theodore Racing Team Theodore TY02 Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA BRA USW SMR BEL MON DET CAN
Ret
NED GBR NC0
John Player Team Lotus Lotus 91 FRA
12
GER AUT SUI ITA CPL
Sources: [3] [4] [5]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

YearTeamCo-DriversCarClassLapsPos.Class
Pos.
1982 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Nimrod Racing Automobiles Ltd. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tiff Needell
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Bob Evans
Nimrod NRA/C2-Aston Martin C55DNFDNF
1985 Flag of Japan.svg Dome Team Flag of Sweden.svg Eje Elgh
Flag of Japan.svg Toshio Suzuki
Dome 85C-L-Toyota C1141DNFDNF
1986 Flag of Japan.svg Tom's Co. Ltd. Flag of Japan.svg Satoru Nakajima
Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Sekiya
Tom's (Dome) 86C-L-Toyota C1105DNFDNF
1987 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones
Flag of Sweden.svg Eje Elgh
Toyota 87C-LC119DNFDNF
1988 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Sekiya
Flag of Japan.svg Kaoru Hoshino
Toyota 88C C135112th12th
1989 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Johnny Dumfries
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Watson
Toyota 89C-VC158DNFDNF
1990 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of Japan.svg Masanori Sekiya
Flag of Japan.svg Hitoshi Ogawa
Toyota 90C-V C13476th6th
1992 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of Japan.svg Ukyo Katayama
Toyota TS010 C1192DNFDNF
1993 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Team Tom's Flag of the Netherlands.svg Jan Lammers
Flag of Argentina.svg Juan Manuel Fangio II
Toyota TS010 C13538th5th
1995 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lister Cars Ltd. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dominic Chappell
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rupert Keegan
Lister Storm GTSGT140DNFDNF
1996 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Newcastle United Lister Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tiff Needell
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Anthony Reid
Lister Storm GTSGT129519th11th
1997 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Newcastle United Lister Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tiff Needell
Flag of South Africa.svg George Fouché
Lister Storm GTLGT121DNFDNF
1998 Flag of Japan.svg Toyota Motorsport
Flag of Germany.svg Toyota Team Europe
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Thierry Boutsen
Flag of Germany.svg Ralf Kelleners
Toyota GT-One GT1330DNFDNF
2000 Flag of Germany.svg Thomas Bscher Promotion
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Price Racing
Flag of Germany.svg Dr. Thomas Bscher
Flag of France.svg Jean-Marc Gounon
BMW V12 LM LMP900180DNFDNF
Sources: [4] [6]

Complete JGTC results

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

YearTeamCarClass12345678DCPts
2002 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota Supra GT500 TAI FUJ
13
SUG SEP FUJ MOT MIN SUZ NC0

Sources

  1. Åhman, Michael (30 December 1981). "Han vann och försvann" [He won and disappeared]. Teknikens Värld (in Swedish). Vol. 34, no. 1. Stockholm, Sweden: Specialtidningsförlaget AB. pp. 22–23.
  2. de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Geoff Lees". Motor Sport . Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Geoff Lees Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  5. Small, Steve (2000). "Lees, Geoff". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. p. 342. ISBN   978-1-902007-46-5 . Retrieved 7 August 2023 via Internet Archive.
  6. "Geoff Lees". Automobile Club de l'Ouest . Retrieved 7 August 2023.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Formula Ford Festival
Winner

1975
Succeeded by
Preceded by Macau Grand Prix
Winner

1979-1980
Succeeded by
Preceded by European Formula Two
Champion

1981
Succeeded by
Preceded by Japanese Formula Two
Champion

1983
Succeeded by

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