John Cleland

15/7/1952

Record updated 15-Jul-21

John Cleland started in rallying and hill climbs and went on to a long career in saloon car racing, predominantly with Vauxhall.

Two British Touring Car Championship titles, two Thundersaloon championships and some close run, down to the wire disappointments, near misses, incidents and controversy have made John Cleland a household name in motorsport circles.

On September 19th 1999, after 10 years of service, John retired from the British Touring Car Championship in spectacular style, only to promise to return to motorsport in the not too distant future.

The year 2000 saw John appear in a Chrysler Viper and a GT Porsche on a few occasions and in 2001, a brief dip into the then new to the U.K,  American style, ASCAR stock car racing.

John continues to be a regular visitor to the 1000Km Touring Car "Great Race" at Bathurst's spectacular Mount Panorama circuit in Australia, with a best finish of second place with Brad Jones in 2001.

In 2003, John finished a creditable 9th in the Ozemail Ford Falcon at the Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000 event. 2004 saw John rolled onto his roof after a tangle with the Brock, Plato Commodore. Take a look at the news pages to see how John and the Brad Jones Racing Team BOC Ford Falcons faired at the mountain in 2005.

JC was also prominent in the BTCC Masters event at Donington in September 2004 and in the guest Porsche Carrera Cup car at his home circuit of Knockhill, earlier in 2004.

When not behind the wheel of a race car, John keeps busy running his car dealership and also finds time to manage, spanner and “sponsor” sons Niki and Jamie in their burgeoning rally and track racing careers.