Rikky Leiviskä

From Formula Rejects Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Leiviska.png
Rikky Leiviskä after winning the Pau Grand Prix
Details
Name Fredrik Leiviskä
Born 4th Jun 1957
Nationality Flag of Finland svg.png 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 Flag of Finland svg.png J. F. Leiviskä Van Diemen-Renault KAR
 
AND
 
FLK
10
KNU
5
AND
Ret
KAR
7
2 10th
1978 Flag of Finland svg.png Leiviskä Renault Finland Ralt-Renault KNU
1
KIN
1
AND
3
FLK
Ret
KNU
6
KAR
4
MAN
1
35 1st
1979 Flag of Germany svg.png 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 Flag of Finland svg.png 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 Flag of Germany svg.png 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 Flag of Germany svg.png 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 Flag of Germany svg.png 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 Flag of the United Kingdom svg.png B&S Fabrications Spartec G71B Hart 415T 1.5 L4t RSA
 
INT
 
ROC
Ret