Rikky Leiviskä
 Rikky Leiviskä after winning the Pau Grand Prix | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fredrik Leiviskä |
| Born | 4th Jun 1957 |
| Nationality |  Finnish
|
| Achievements | |
| 1978 Swedish F3 Champion | |
| 1979 European F3 Runner-Up | |
| 1980 Pau Grand Prix | |
| 1980 Grand Prix of Zandvoort | |
Juha Fredrik "Rikky" Leiviskä (born 4th June, 1957 in Espoo, Finland) is a Finnish former Formula One driver and Formula Three champion.
Junior Career
After leaving school at the age of 18, Leiviskä deferred a job with his father's chain of Renault dealerships in order to chase his dreams of becoming a racing driver - promising that if he didn't make it to Formula One within five years, he would take the job. To do so, he moved to Sweden to take advantage of the thriving Formula Vee and Formula Three scene there. After seeing how well his son had performed in local races and a partial season of Swedish Formula Three, Leiviskä's father agreed to fund his career with "Leiviskä Renault Finland" acting as Rikky's first sponsor.
This arrangement lasted for precisely one year: Leiviskä's championship-winning campaign and resulting full-page spread in Motorsport Magazine attracted the attention of Jägermeister, who agreed to support him as he climbed the ladder to Formula One. Leiviskä's cars still carried "Leiviskä Renault Finland" decals, but his entries would now come under "Jägermeister Racing".
In European Formula Three, Leiviskä drove strongly to become vice-champion behind French phenom Alain Prost; while the Champion would go on to drive for Renault in Formula One, the vice-champion contented himself with a Jagermeister-funded Chevron to drive in Formula Two. Despite the fact that his machinery was no match for the fearsome Toleman-Harts driven by Henton and Warwick, he still secured himself two race wins at the Grands Prix of Pau and Zandvoort, and a very creditable sixth in the Championship despite suffering frequent engine failures at the power circuits of Hockenheim, Silverstone and Enna.
Formula One Career
Following the postponement of the 1980 Race of Champions until after the Formula Two championship had ended, Leiviskä approached B&S Fabrications for a drive in the non-championship race. With this experience in a Formula One car under his belt, Leiviskä then set his sights on securing a Formula One drive for 1981. Leiviskä would be in contention for several one-off drives in the tail half of 1980 but he would not be entered again in 1980
For 1981, Leiviskä was signed by ATS to an initial one-year deal. The Finn would partner the experienced Marc Surer, with Surer into his second year at the team and seen as the favourite by the staff. As Jean-Pierre Jarier suffered a dismal start to the season at McLaren-Renault, Leiviskä used his father's connections with Renault to lobby for a seat at the frontrunning team.
Racing Career Results
Swedish Formula Three Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | J. F. Leiviskä
|
Van Diemen-Renault | KAR |
AND |
FLK 10 |
KNU 5 |
AND Ret |
KAR 7 |
2 | 10th | |
| 1978 | Leiviskä Renault Finland
|
Ralt-Renault | KNU 1 |
KIN 1 |
AND 3 |
FLK Ret |
KNU 6 |
KAR 4 |
MAN 1 |
35 | 1st |
| 1979 |  Jägermeister Racing
|
Ralt-Renault | KNU |
AND |
KIN |
FLK |
KNU 2 |
6 | 8th | ||
European Formula Three Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Leiviskä Renault Finland
|
Ralt-Renault | ZAN |
NUR |
OST |
ZOL |
IMO |
NUR |
DIJ |
MNZ |
ENN |
MGN |
KNU 5 |
KAR 4 |
KAR |
AND |
KAR |
AND |
5 | 15th |
| 1979 | Jägermeister Racing
|
Ralt-Renault | VAL 2 |
OST Ret |
ZOL 5 |
MGN Ret |
DON 4 |
ZAN 2 |
ENN Ret |
MON 6 |
KNU 2 |
KIN 1 |
JAR 3 |
KAS 6 |
38 | 2nd | ||||
European Formula Two Championship
| Season | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Jägermeister Racing
|
Chevron-BMW | THR 5 |
HOC Ret |
NUR 10 |
VAL 4 |
PAU 1 |
SIL Ret |
ZOL 5 |
MUG 8 |
ZAN 1 |
ENN Ret |
MIS 6 |
HOC Ret |
24 | 5th |
Formula One World Championship
| Season | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pts | Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | ATS Kauhsen Racing Team
|
ATS D3 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG 9 |
RSA DNPQ |
BRA DNPQ |
USW 14 |
ESP WD |
BEL Ret |
MON ENT |
SMR ENT |
MEX ENT |
FRA ENT |
GBR ENT |
GER ENT |
AUT ENT |
SUI ENT |
ITA ENT |
CAN ENT |
USA ENT |
0 * | - * |
Non-Championship Races
| Season | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Template:GBR B&S Fabrications | Spartec G71B | Hart 415T 1.5 L4t | RSA |
INT |
ROC Ret |