John Cleland

Who is John Cleland?

John Cleland is a retired British auto racing driver. He raced autocross and hillclimb in the 1970s, before achieving success in British Production Car and Thundersaloon championships, before joining Vauxhall for the 1989 British Touring Car Championship. He is currently a co-commentator alongside Martin Haven on the English world feed of the World Touring Car Championship which is used by Eurosport.

Cleland adapted quickly and won the title at his first attempt, in the days when the championship consisted of four separate classes, each in their own races but scoring points for the same title. John won 11 of his 13 races in class C for 1.5l cars. The 2-litre Cavalier was introduced the next year, in readiness for the single 2-litre format in 1991. Cleland finished 2nd in class in 1990 and 5th overall. The following year he won three races and finished second in the championship to Will Hoy, taking Vauxhall's first ever overall BTCC win. In 1992 John battled with Hoy and Tim Harvey for the title, but was denied at the last round by a controversial collision with Steve Soper, the teammate of eventual champion Harvey.