John Cleland

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John Cleland (born 15 July, 1952 in Wishaw, Scotland) is a British former racing driver. He is known for his appearances in the WTCM and BTCC. Cleland developed a reputation as an extremely feisty personality which saw his popularity soar in the 1990s.

Outside of racing, Cleland is the proprietor of a large Volvo dealership in Galashiels, Scotland.

WTCM

After a number of years in the British Thundersaloons series with the Vauxhall-Opel team, Cleland was selected by the Union Saver Developments Toyota team to join their assault on the 1988 World Touring Car Masters season. Cleland was joined by fellow Brits David Leslie and John Llewellyn as well as Argentine Juan María Traverso. Toyota were fairly outgunned in Class B for much of 1988 - being well and truly beaten by the likes of the Nissan Skyline R31 and Volvo 240. Cleland did manage a single class win however, taking the flag in the Endurance race at Spa-Francorchamps on his way to ninth the class standings.

1989 saw Cleland being joined by former Formula One star Keke Rosberg as well as Traverso and Leslie. Toyota were by far the strongest Class B package in 1989 and Cleland managed to take six wins in class throughout the year - being enough to take third in the class standings behind Leslie and Rosberg.

Cleland stuck around for a third season in 1990 - this time with Will Hoy making the full time switch from the British championship into the World series. Cleland only managed the single win in class as Audi dominated but he finished the season fourth in class - the best of the non-Audi runners.

Cleland returned to his old employers at Vauxhall in 1991 - initially leading the Luton marque's assault on the British Touring Car Championship alongside Jeff Allam. Cleland was called upon midway through the year to replace Bernd Schneider who suffered a serious injury in the sprint race at Watkins Glen. Cleland took a pair of wins at the first time of asking at the following round in Nigeria which heightened calls for him to make the switch permanent.

Complete WTCM Results

Year Team Car Class WDC Pts Class Pts
1988 Union Saver Developments Toyota Supra Turbo B M Flag of Australia svg.png Flag of Japan svg.png Flag of the United States svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of Italy svg.png Flag of Belgium svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png 36th 10 9th 160
E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E
BAT
24
BAT
26
FUJ
DNQ
FUJ
DNQ
GLN
24
GLN
27
NOR
Ret
NOR
Ret
KYA
Ret
KYA
29
HOC
19
HOC
Ret
CHA
DNQ
CHA
DNQ
BIR
15
BIR
22
MNZ
Ret
MNZ
23
SPA
13
SPA
23
NUR
Ret
1989 Union Saver Developments Toyota Supra Turbo B M Flag of Japan svg.png Flag of the United States svg.png Flag of South Africa 1928-1994 svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the Czech Republic svg.png Flag of Italy svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of Belgium svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png Flag of Australia svg.png 16th 73 3rd 288
E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E
FUJ
Ret
FUJ
12
GLN
9
GLN
12
KYA
11
KYA
11
PAU
Ret
PAU
10
BRN
Ret
BRN
13
MNZ
7
MNZ
10
CHA
4
CHA
7
BIR
9
BIR
11
SPA
Ret
SPA
Ret
NUR
Ret
NUR
13
BAT
Ret
1990 Union Saver Developments Toyota Supra Turbo B M Flag of Japan svg.png Flag of the United States svg.png Flag of Nigeria svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the Czech Republic svg.png Flag of Italy svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of Belgium svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png Flag of Australia svg.png 15th 81 4th 284
E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E S E
FUJ
Ret
FUJ
18
GLN
11
GLN
16
LAG
11
LAG
11
BRH
12
BRH
14
PAU
3
PAU
5
BRN
12
BRN
Ret
MNZ
15
MNZ
Ret
CHA
9
CHA
15
BIR
8
BIR
31†
SPA
Ret
SPA
19
NUR
Ret
NUR
20
BAT
Ret
1991 Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Cavalier M Flag of Australia svg.png Flag of Japan svg.png Flag of the United States svg.png Flag of Nigeria svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of France svg.png Flag of the Czech Republic svg.png Flag of Italy svg.png Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png Flag of Sweden svg.png Flag of Belgium svg.png Flag of Germany svg.png Flag of Portugal svg.png WDC Pts
F S F S F S F S E F F S F S F S F S E F S F 9th 75
AFR
1
AFR
1
RAC
2
PAU
3
CZE
3
CZE
5