# Geoff Lees (racing driver)

Geoffrey Thompson Lees (born 1 May 1951) is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in 12 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, making his first appearance on 16 July 1978. He scored no championship points.

## Career

Lees was born near Kingsbury, Warwickshire. His first Grand Prix chance came with a non-works Ensign ran by Mario Deliotti, the owner of an Alfa Romeo dealership in Birmingham, at his home race in 1978. Lees failed to qualify. The following year he had a one-off drive for Tyrrell, before a more regular ride with the struggling Shadow team in 1980. Later that year he also drove for the works Ensign team, and failed to qualify a RAM-entered Williams in the US. He participated in the Formula One non-championship race held on 7 February 1981 at Kyalami for Theodore where he went into the crash barriers on lap 11 due to a broken front suspension. In the hope of taking one step backward and then two steps forward, he joined Ralt-Honda for the European Formula Two championship. He won the championship, but his hopes of "re-entering Formula One with more dignity" were quashed when Honda decided to spend another year developing their F1 engine. Lees, one year ahead of Honda failed to find a good seat at the highest level, and his F1 career petered out in 1982 with single drives for Theodore and Lotus.
In his Formula One career, Lees seemed stuck in uncompetitive cars, and when success proved elusive, he moved to Japan in the early 1980s. There he enjoyed a long career in the Japanese Formula Two, winning the 1983 title and collecting eight wins. He also represented various Japanese marques in sports car racing championships such as the Fuji Grand Champion Series, where he won three titles in 1986, 1988 and 1989, and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship, where he got the C-class title in 1992. Lees became a highly paid and highly respected part of the Japanese racing scene. He has also driven at Le Mans numerous times, with his best finish being a sixth place overall in 1990.

## Racing record
### Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Pts | Class |
| 1976 | British Leyland | Triumph Dolomite Sprint | C | BRH | SIL | OUL | THR | THR | SIL | BRH | MAL 9† | SNE | BRH Ret | 38th | 3 | 10th |
| Source: |||||||||||||||||

### Complete European Formula Two Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
| 1978 | Polifac BMW Junior Team | March 782 | BMW | THR | HOC | NÜR | PAU | MUG | VLL | ROU | DON Ret | | | | | 14th | 4 |
| 1978 | Raven Racing | Chevron B42 | Hart | | | | | | | | | NOG 6 | PER DNQ | MIS 4 | HOC Ret | 14th | 4 |
| 1980 | Ralt Racing | Ralt RH6/80 | Honda | THR | HOC | NÜR | VLL | PAU | SIL | ZOL | MUG | ZAN | PER | MIS | HOC Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1981 | Ralt Racing | Ralt RH6/81 | Honda | SIL 7 | HOC 5 | THR NC | NÜR 5 | VLL 5 | MUG 2 | PAU 1 | PER Ret | SPA 1 | DON 1 | MIS 2 | MAN 2 | 1st | 51 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||||

### Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
| 1978 | Mario Deliotti Racing | Ensign N175 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | MON | BEL | ESP | SWE | FRA | GBR DNQ | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | USA | CAN | NC | 0 |
| 1979 | Candy Tyrrell Team | Tyrrell 009 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER 7 | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | | NC | 0 |
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow DN11 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | ARG | BRA | RSA 13 | USW DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1980 | Shadow Cars | Shadow DN12 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | | | | | BEL DNQ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1980 | Theodore Shadow | Shadow DN12 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | | | | | | MON DNQ | FRA DNQ | GBR | GER | AUT | | | | | | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1980 | Unipart Racing Team | Ensign N180 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | | | | | | | | | | | NED Ret | ITA DNQ | CAN | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1980 | RAM Racing | Williams FW07B | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | USA DNQ | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1982 | Theodore Racing Team | Theodore TY02 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA | BRA | USW | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | CAN Ret | NED | GBR | | | | | | | NC | 0 |
| 1982 | John Player Team Lotus | Lotus 91 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | | | | | | | | | | | FRA 12 | GER | AUT | SUI | ITA | CPL | NC | 0 |
| Sources: ||||||||||||||||||||||

### Japanese Top Formula Championship results

(key)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
| 1981 | Ralt Honda | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ 4 | | | | | | | 12nd | 10 |
| 1982 | Team LeMans | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ 9 | SUZ 4 | SUZ | SUZ | | | | | | 10th | 12 |
| 1983 | John Player Special Team Izukawa | SUZ 6 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 1 | SUZ 7 | SUZ 1 | FUJ 1 | SUZ 5 | SUZ 1 | | | | 1st | 93 |
| 1984 | Advan Sports Speed Box Motor Sports | SUZ Ret | FUJ Ret | MIN Ret | SUZ 12 | SUZ 8 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 4 | SUZ 6 | | | | 9th | 29 |
| 1985 | Advan Sports Speed Box Motor Sports | SUZ Ret | FUJ Ret | MIN 3 | SUZ 11 | SUZ 6 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 3 | SUZ 3 | | | | 6th | 42 |
| 1986 | Mooncraft | SUZ Ret | FUJ 1 | MIN 3 | SUZ 3 | SUZ 4 | FUJ 4 | SUZ 10 | SUZ 2 | | | | 3rd | 80 |
| 1987 | Team Nova | SUZ 10 | FUJ 1 | MIN 5 | SUZ 2 | SUZ 3 | SUG 2 | FUJ 12 | SUZ 3 | SUZ Ret | | | 3rd | 83 |
| 1988 | Team LeMans | SUZ 4 | FUJ 13 | MIN 4 | SUZ Ret | SUG 1 | FUJ Ret | SUZ Ret | SUZ Ret | | | | 5th | 15 |
| 1989 | Team LeMans | SUZ 4 | FUJ 14 | MIN Ret | SUZ 15 | SUG 5 | FUJ Ret | SUZ 13 | SUZ Ret | | | | 13th | 5 |
| 1990 | Team Hayashi | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | SUZ | SUG | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | FUJ | SUZ Ret | | NC | 0 |
| 1991 | Team Hayashi | SUZ 14 | AUT 18 | FUJ 13 | MIN 11 | SUZ 6 | SUG Ret | FUJ DNQ | SUZ 8 | FUJ C | SUZ DNQ | FUJ Ret | 22nd | 2 |

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 1982 | Nimrod Racing Automobiles Ltd. | Tiff Needell Bob Evans | Nimrod NRA/C2-Aston Martin | C | 55 | DNF | DNF |
| 1985 | Dome Team | Eje Elgh Toshio Suzuki | Dome 85C-L-Toyota | C1 | 141 | DNF | DNF |
| 1986 | Tom's Co. Ltd. | Satoru Nakajima Masanori Sekiya | Tom's (Dome) 86C-L-Toyota | C1 | 105 | DNF | DNF |
| 1987 | Toyota Team Tom's | Alan Jones Eje Elgh | Toyota 87C-L | C1 | 19 | DNF | DNF |
| 1988 | Toyota Team Tom's | Masanori Sekiya Kaoru Hoshino | Toyota 88C | C1 | 351 | 12th | 12th |
| 1989 | Toyota Team Tom's | Johnny Dumfries John Watson | Toyota 89C-V | C1 | 58 | DNF | DNF |
| 1990 | Toyota Team Tom's | Masanori Sekiya Hitoshi Ogawa | Toyota 90C-V | C1 | 347 | 6th | 6th |
| 1992 | Toyota Team Tom's | David Brabham Ukyo Katayama | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 192 | DNF | DNF |
| 1993 | Toyota Team Tom's | Jan Lammers Juan Manuel Fangio II | Toyota TS010 | C1 | 353 | 8th | 5th |
| 1995 | Lister Cars Ltd. | Dominic Chappell Rupert Keegan | Lister Storm GTS | GT1 | 40 | DNF | DNF |
| 1996 | Newcastle United Lister | Tiff Needell Anthony Reid | Lister Storm GTS | GT1 | 295 | 19th | 11th |
| 1997 | Newcastle United Lister | Tiff Needell George Fouché | Lister Storm GTL | GT1 | 21 | DNF | DNF |
| 1998 | Toyota Motorsport Toyota Team Europe | Thierry Boutsen Ralf Kelleners | Toyota GT-One | GT1 | 330 | DNF | DNF |
| 2000 | Thomas Bscher Promotion David Price Racing | Dr. Thomas Bscher Jean-Marc Gounon | BMW V12 LM | LMP900 | 180 | DNF | DNF |
| Sources: ||||||||

### Complete JGTC results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | DC | Pts |
| 2002 | Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Supra | GT500 | TAI | FUJ 13 | SUG | SEP | FUJ | MOT | MIN | SUZ | NC | 0 |

## Sources

* ↑ Åhman, Michael (30 December 1981). "Han vann och försvann" [He won and disappeared]. Teknikens Värld (in Swedish). Vol. 34, no. 1. Stockholm, Sweden: Specialtidningsförlaget AB. pp. 22–23.
* ↑ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
* 1 2 "Geoff Lees". Motor Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
* 1 2 "Geoff Lees Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
* ↑ Small, Steve (2000). "Lees, Geoff". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. p. 342. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5. Retrieved 7 August 2023 – via Internet Archive.
* ↑ "Geoff Lees". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
* Profile at www.grandprix.com
Sporting positions :
| Preceded byRichard Morgan | Formula Ford Festival Winner 1975 | Succeeded byDerek Daly |
| Preceded byRiccardo Patrese | Macau Grand Prix Winner 1979-1980 | Succeeded byBob Earl |
| Preceded byBrian Henton | European Formula Two Champion 1981 | Succeeded byCorrado Fabi |
| Preceded bySatoru Nakajima | Japanese Formula Two Champion 1983 | Succeeded bySatoru Nakajima |