| {{{image}}} | |
| Geoff Lees | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 1951 {{{birth_place}}} |
| Died | {{{death_date}}} {{{death_place}}} |
| Formula One career | |
| Nationality |  British
|
| Years | 1978–1980, 1982 |
Geoffrey Lees (born 1 May 1951) is a 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.
Career[]
Lees was born near Kingsbury, Warwickshire. His first Grand Prix chance came with a non-works Ensign at his home race in 1978, but he 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. He won the European Formula Two championship in 1981, but still 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 8 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.
Racing record[]
Complete European Formula Two Championship results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | March Racing Ltd | March 782 | BMW | THR |
HOC |
NÜR |
PAU |
MUG |
VAL |
ROU |
DON Ret |
15th | 4 | ||||
| Jack Kallay | Chevron B42 | NOG 6 |
|||||||||||||||
| Hart | PER DNQ |
MIS 4 |
|||||||||||||||
| Raven Racing | HOC Ret | ||||||||||||||||
| 1980 | Ralt Racing Ltd | Ralt RT2 | Honda | THR | HOC | NÜR | VAL | PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN | PER | MIS | HOC Ret |
— | 0 |
| 1981 | Ralt Racing Ltd | 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 |
1st | 51 |
Complete Formula One World Championship results[]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Mario Deliotti Racing | Ensign N175 | Ford V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR DNQ |
GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | NC | 0 |
| 1979 | Candy Tyrrell Team | Tyrrell 009 | Ford V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER 7 |
AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | NC | 0 | |
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow DN11 | Ford V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA 13 |
USW DNQ |
NC | 0 | ||||||||||||
| Shadow DN12 | BEL DNQ |
MON DNQ |
FRA DNQ |
GBR | GER | AUT | |||||||||||||||
| Unipart Racing Team | Ensign N180 | NED Ret |
ITA DNQ |
CAN | |||||||||||||||||
| RAM Theodore | Williams FW07B | USA DNQ |
|||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Theodore Racing Team | Theodore TY02 | Ford V8 | RSA | BRA | USW | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | CAN Ret |
NED | GBR | NC | 0 | ||||||
| John Player Team Lotus | Lotus 91 | FRA 12 |
GER | AUT | SUI | ITA | CPL |
24 Hours of Le Mans results[]
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Nimrod Racing Automobiles Ltd.
|
Tiff Needell Bob Evans
|
Nimrod NRA/C2-Aston Martin | C | 55 | DNF | DNF |
| 1985 |  Dome Team
|
 Eje Elgh Toshio Suzuki
|
Dome 85C-L-Toyota | C1 | 141 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 | Tom's Co. Ltd.
|
Satoru Nakajima Masanori Sekiya
|
Tom's (Dome) 86C-L-Toyota | C1 | 105 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
 Alan Jones Eje Elgh
|
Toyota 87C-L | C1 | 19 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
Masanori Sekiya Kaoru Hoshino
|
Toyota 88C | C1 | 351 | 12th | 12th |
| 1989 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
Johnny Dumfries John Watson
|
Toyota 89C-V | C1 | 58 | DNF | DNF |
| 1990 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
Masanori Sekiya Hitoshi Ogawa
|
Toyota 90C-V | C1 | 347 | 6th | 6th |
| 1992 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
David Brabham Ukyo Katayama
|
Toyota TS010 | C1 | 192 | DNF | DNF |
| 1993 | Toyota Team Tom's
|
 Jan Lammers Juan Manuel Fangio II
|
Toyota TS010 | C1 | 353 | 8th | 5th |
| 1995 | Lister Cars Ltd.
|
Dominic Chappell Rupert Keegan
|
Lister Storm GTS | GT1 | 40 | DNF | DNF |
| 1996 | Newcastle United Lister
|
Tiff Needell Anthony Reid
|
Lister Storm GTS | GT1 | 295 | 19th | 11th |
| 1997 | Newcastle United Lister
|
Tiff Needell George Fouché
|
Lister Storm GTL | GT1 | 21 | DNF | DNF |
| 1998 | Toyota Motorsport Toyota Team Europe
|
 Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners
|
Toyota GT-One | GT1 | 330 | DNF | DNF |
| 2000 | Thomas Bscher Promotion David Price Racing
|
Dr. Thomas Bscher Jean-Marc Gounon
|
BMW V12 LM | LMP900 | 180 | DNF | DNF |
Sources[]
| Preceded by: Richard Morgan |
Formula Ford Festival Winner 1975 |
Succeeded by: Derek Daly |
| Preceded by: Riccardo Patrese |
Macau GP winner 1979, 1980 |
Succeeded by: Bob Earl |
| Preceded by: Brian Henton |
European Formula Two Champion 1981 |
Succeeded by: Corrado Fabi |
| Preceded by: Satoru Nakajima |
Japanese Formula Two Champion 1983 |
Succeeded by: Satoru Nakajima |
| |||||||||||