JJ Lehto | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lehto at the2004 Petit Le Mans | |
| Born | Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (1966-01-31)31 January 1966 (age 59) Espoo, Uusimaa, Finland |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Finnish |
| Active years | 1989–1994 |
| Teams | Onyx,Scuderia Italia,Sauber,Benetton |
| Entries | 70 (62 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Careerpoints | 10 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1994 Australian Grand Prix |
| American Le Mans Series career | |
| Years active | 1999–2005 |
| Teams | BMW,Cadillac,Champion |
| Starts | 60 |
| Championships | 1 (2004) |
| Wins | 23 |
| Podiums | 49 |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1990–1991,1995–1997,1999,2002–2005 |
| Teams | RLR,Porsche,McLaren,Gulf,BMW,Cadillac,Champion |
| Best finish | 1st (1995,2005) |
| Class wins | 3 (1995,2003,2005) |
Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈjyrkiˈjærʋilehto]; born 31 January 1966), commonly known asJJ Lehto, is a Finnish formerracing driver andbroadcaster, who competed inFormula One from1989 to1994. Insportscar racing, Lehto won theAmerican Le Mans Series in2004 and is atwo-time winner of the24 Hours of Le Mans in1995 and2005, as well as a two-time winner of the12 Hours of Sebring in1999 and2005.
Born and raised inEspoo, Lehto began competitivekart racing aged eight before graduating toFormula Ford in 1981. Aprotégé of1982 World Drivers' ChampionKeke Rosberg, Lehto won several national and continental Formula Ford titles prior to dominating the1988 British Formula Three Championship withPacific. Lehto competed at 70Formula One Grands Prix forOnyx,Italia,Sauber andBenetton, making his debut at the1989 Portuguese Grand Prix with the former. He achieved a podium finish with Italia at the1991 San Marino Grand Prix.
Upon retiring from motor racing, Lehto became acommentator andpundit forMTV3. In June 2010, Lehto was injured in a boating incident inEkenäs, during which an unnamed associate was killed. Lehto was found guilty ofnegligent homicide anddriving under the influence, and sentenced to 28 months in prison. He appealed the conviction to theTurku Court of Appeal, who overturned the verdict in November 2012, due to inconclusive evidence that Lehto was driving the boat.
Like many racing drivers, Lehto began in karts at age 8, winning numerous events, before graduating toFormula Ford at the early age of 15. A switch to single seaters saw him dominate theScandinavianFormula Ford. He then won the British and European Formula 2000 championship in 1987 and went on to win the covetedBritishFormula 3 title in 1988,[1] driving forPacific Racing. In 1989 Lehto drove in Formula 3000, again for Pacific Racing. The season was not successful and he failed to score any podium finishes. He did not participate in the last race which was held in Dijon-Prenois. He was aprotégé of Finnish 1982 Formula OneWorld ChampionKeke Rosberg, who first suggested that Jyrki Järvilehto should abbreviate his name to the more manageable JJ Lehto.[2]
In 1989, Lehto tested forFerrari before making his Formula One debut for theOnyx team as a late-season replacement forBertrand Gachot.[1] Though he failed to prequalify for his first race atEstoril he impressed with his speed in the tough sessions and made his first start in thefollowing meeting. In the wet season finale atAdelaide, he ran as high as 5th before retiring with waterlogged electrics. Over the summer, Onyx were sold to Swiss racer turned businessmanPeter Monteverdi. Lehto, marked by many as a star of the future, was paired withGregor Foitek but financial difficulties hampered his season, leading to the team's withdrawal after theHungarian Grand Prix (one of five events the Finn failed to qualify for – though he had been hindered by the team's poor preparation, including adriveshaft being fitted the wrong way around for several meetings, and favouritism towards Foitek, whose father was involved with the buyout).
For 1991, Lehto was signed by the ambitiousScuderia Italia team, financed byBeppe Lucchini with aDallara chassis,Judd V10 engines andEmanuele Pirro in the second car. Due to poor results in 1990, the cars had to prequalify but soon established themselves as decent midfield runners. In the wetSan Marino Grand Prix, Lehto impressed by lasting in a race of attrition to finish 3rd, scoring his first F1 points. He impressed elsewhere but did not score again through poor reliability and bad luck (only finishing on four other occasions). He stayed with the team in 1992, now paired withPierluigi Martini and using Ferrari V12 engines but the new Dallara B192 chassis had severe handling problems. Lehto's best result was 7th atSpa, his worst a failure to qualify at theHungaroring.
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Lehto landed the second seat (alongside AustrianKarl Wendlinger) at the new, much-anticipatedSauber team for 1993, runningIlmor engines. The season started very well as Lehto survived a late downpour atKyalami to score 5th place on the team's debut, then finished 4th atImola despite a late engine failure. However, after a collision with Wendlinger atMonaco his relationship with both his teammate and Sauber became frosty and his season tailed off with no more points scored.
For 1994, Lehto saw off competition fromMichele Alboreto andLuca Badoer to land the second seat atBenetton alongsideMichael Schumacher. However, he injured his neck testing the newB194 in pre-season with test driverJos Verstappen taking his place for the first two rounds of the championship. Lehto returned to the cockpit for the ill-fatedSan Marino Grand Prix despite some question marks over his fitness. He qualified 5th but stalled on the grid, his car being struck from behind byPedro Lamy'sLotus. Despite running 3rd inSpain before an engine failure and scoring a point inCanada (after the disqualification ofChristian Fittipaldi) it was clear his injuries had not healed fully and he was replaced once again by Verstappen for theFrench Grand Prix. He returned to the cockpit for theItalian andPortuguese rounds in place of the suspended Schumacher but did not impress and was released entirely soon afterwards when the team signedJohnny Herbert. This freed him up to drive in the last two rounds for Sauber – Wendlinger's injuries from an accident in practice before the 1994 Monaco GP had failed to heal and his previous replacementAndrea de Cesaris was unreachable.
After hisFormula One career stalled, and advised by his managerKeke Rosberg, Lehto joined the German Touring Car Championship,DTM, in 1995 and 1996. Even though rated highly, victories eluded him, but this loss was probably made up by his successes in GT andsports car racing.
Lehto was a late addition to the1995 edition of the24 Hours of Le Mans in aMcLaren F1 GTR, but he won the race outright, at his third attempt, sharing the car withYannick Dalmas andMasanori Sekiya. Lehto was an integral part of the win, gaining the lead for the team by driving a few stints during the rainy night. While others were driving cautiously, Lehto was seen to be sliding the car, lapping at times 30sec faster than everyone else.[3] He had three more guest appearances in the same car the next year, winning another race, before he got picked up byBMW to join the factory squad in the inauguralFIA GT season, partneringSteve Soper. Even though success came initially easily, including a win in front of his home crowd at the Thunder In Helsinki event, the might ofMercedes-Benz caught up with the McLarens and left Lehto conceding the title to former DTM rivalBernd Schneider.
After an unsuccessful 1998 campaign as a Mercedes-Benz factory driver in the American-based single-seaterCART series with Team Hogan, Lehto stayed Stateside but returned to the BMW camp, which entered their V12 LMR sportscar racer in the American Le Mans Series,ALMS. Even though he ended up winning four races, Lehto lost the title on the account of a formality (he was not awarded the points gained for winning the12 Hours of Sebring because he did not have an American racing license at that time). 2000 proved less successful as the near-unbeatable Audi R8 entered the scene.
BMW and Lehto stayed in the ALMS series, but stepped down to the GT-class with the controversial M3 GTR. The team was virtually unbeatable but Lehto lost out in the championship to the driver he shared the car with,Jörg Müller, as the latter had more fastest laps and laps in the lead to his name.
Lehro found the M3 already not fast enough to his liking, so it was not surprising when Lehto turned down BMW's offer to join them in theEuropean Touring Car Championship (ETCC) the following year, having to race a near standard 320itin-top racer. 2002 started with unemployment, but he was picked up byCadillac as an addition to theirNorthstar LMP sportscar programme at Le Mans and in the ALMS series. Although the car was not on the pace of theAudi R8s orPanoz LMPs, the car's fortunes did seem to turn for the better when it started to notch up regular podium finishes in the second half of the year.Cadillac's mother companyGeneral Motors pulled the plug on the project, leaving Lehto again without a job if it had not been for Champion Racing, who offered him a drive in theirAudi R8.
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Lehto won four times in 2003 (including the prestigiousPetit Le Mans event atRoad Atlanta), but it was not until the factory Audi squad left the ALMS series that he was finally able to reap full rewards in 2004 and score his first championship success since his 1988 title in the BritishFormula Three, picking up six victories on the way.
A disappointing second half of the 2005 season prevented him from scoring double championship success, but nonetheless he managed to end his last year in full-time racing on an impressive note when winning both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans again.
In 2006 it was announced the Solaroli team would purchase two Porsche RS Spyders to be entered in the ALMS series. One car would be driven by Lehto, partnered by Johnny Herbert. However, even though getting confirmation about the deal going through in early 2007, nothing ever materialised.
Lehto did show up at the 2007 edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona to team up with Colin Braun andMax Papis in the Krohn Racing Pontiac-Riley. His first participation in the event was not a success though as the car suffered from a misfire, and after having spent a long time in the pits, finished 17th.
In 2008, Lehto made an unexpected return to the race tracks when he showed up at the Malaysian Grand Prix to drive in the Speedcar support race, taking over the No. 90 car previously vacated byNarain Karthikeyan.
In 2001, Lehto joined Finnish television as an expert racecommentator and remained a mainstay atMTV3's Finnish Formula One race broadcasts (and also for the pay-channelMTV3 MAX) until 2010, alongsideOskari Saari.
On 17 June 2010, Lehto was involved in a boating incident inEkenäs. The incident happened when the boat carrying Lehto and his friend, whose identity was not released, hit the base of a bridge in acanal. Lehto was injured and the other man was killed in the incident. Lehto had been drinking throughout the day and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident.[4][5]
In January 2011,Ilta-Sanomat reported that the police investigations had concluded that no one besides Lehto could have been driving the boat at the time of the incident.[6] Lehto faced charges ofnegligent homicide,reckless driving anddriving under the influence.[7][8] Regardless of the pending trial, Lehto made a return to sportscasting on the Finnish sports-channelURHOtv [fi], commentating on aDTM event.[9] On 14 December 2011, theDistrict Court found Lehto guilty of drunk sailing and negligent homicide, and sentenced him to two years and four months in prison.[7] Lehto however appealed the decision, and on 30 November 2012, theTurku Court of Appeal cleared him of all charges relating to the incident, finding the evidence regarding who had been driving the boat inconclusive.[10][11]
 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Pacific Racing | Toyota | A | THR 1 | SIL 1 | THR Ret | BRH 24 | DON 2 | SIL 1 | BRH 1 | THR Ret | SIL 1 | DON 1 | SIL 3 | SNE 3 | OUL 2 | SIL 1 | BRH Ret | SPA 1 | THR 2 | SIL 3 | 1st | 164 | [13] |
| Year | Team | Chassis/Engine | Qualifying | Race1 | Race2 | Overall ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 |  Pacific Racing w/Marlboro Theodore Racing | Reynard・Toyota | 2nd | 4 | DNF | DNF |
Source:[14] | ||||||
(key)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Pacific Racing | SIL DSQ | VAL Ret | PAU 4 | JER 6 | PER Ret | BRH Ret | BIR Ret | SPA 5 | BUG Ret | DIJ | 14th | 6 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Moneytron Onyx Formula One | OnyxORE-1 | FordV8 | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR DNPQ | ESP Ret | JPN DNPQ | AUS Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1990 | MonteverdiOnyx Formula One | OnyxORE-1 | FordV8 | USA DNQ | BRA DNQ | NC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| OnyxORE-1B | FordV8 | SMR 12 | MON Ret | CAN Ret | MEX Ret | FRA DNQ | GBR DNQ | GER NC | HUN DNQ | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | ||||||
| 1991 | Scuderia Italia SpA | DallaraBMS-191 | JuddV10 | USA Ret | BRA Ret | SMR 3 | MON 11 | CAN Ret | MEX Ret | FRA Ret | GBR 13 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | POR Ret | ESP 8 | JPN Ret | AUS 12 | 12th | 4 |
| 1992 | Scuderia Italia SpA | DallaraBMS-192 | FerrariV12 | RSA Ret | MEX 8 | BRA 8 | ESP Ret | SMR 11 | MON 9 | CAN 9 | FRA 9 | GBR 13 | GER 10 | HUN DNQ | BEL 7 | ITA 11 | POR Ret | JPN 9 | AUS Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1993 | Team Sauber Formula 1 | SauberC12 | SauberV10 | RSA 5 | BRA Ret | EUR Ret | SMR 4 | ESP Ret | MON Ret | CAN 7 | FRA Ret | GBR 8 | GER Ret | HUN Ret | BEL 9 | ITA Ret | POR 7 | JPN 8 | AUS Ret | 13th | 5 |
| 1994 | Mild SevenBenettonFord | BenettonB194 | FordV8 | BRA | PAC | SMR Ret | MON 7 | ESP Ret | CAN 6 | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA 9 | POR Ret | EUR | 24th | 1 | ||
| SauberMercedes | SauberC13 | MercedesV10 | JPN Ret | AUS 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Richard Lloyd Racing Italya Sport |  Manuel ReuterJames Weaver | Porsche 962C GTi | C1 | 181 | DNF | DNF |
| 1991 | PorscheKremer Racing | Manuel ReuterHarri Toivonen | Porsche 962CK6 | C2 | 343 | 9th | 9th |
| 1995 | Kokusai Kaihatsu Racing |  Yannick Dalmas Masanori Sekiya | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 298 | 1st | 1st |
| 1996 | Gulf Racing GTC Racing | Ray BellmJames Weaver | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 323 | 9th | 7th |
| 1997 | TeamBMW MotorsportBMWTeam Schnitzer | Steve Soper Nelson Piquet | McLaren F1 GTR | GT1 | 236 | DNF | DNF |
| 1999 | TeamBMW Motorsport |  Tom KristensenJörg Müller | BMW V12 LMR | LMP | 304 | DNF | DNF |
| 2002 |  TeamCadillac | Éric BernardEmmanuel Collard | Cadillac Northstar LMP02 | LMP900 | 334 | 12th | 10th |
| 2003 | Champion Racing | Emanuele Pirro Stefan Johansson | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 372 | 3rd | 1st |
| 2004 | ADTChampion Racing | Marco WernerEmanuele Pirro | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 368 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 2005 | ADTChampion Racing | Tom KristensenMarco Werner | Audi R8 | LMP900 | 370 | 1st | 1st |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Opel Team Joest | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | HOC 1 8 | HOC 2 4 | AVU 1 10 | AVU 2 20 | NOR 1 7 | NOR 2 Ret | DIE 1 15 | DIE 2 8 | NÜR 1 NC | NÜR 2 Ret | ALE 1 Ret | ALE 2 8 | HOC 1 6 | HOC 2 6 | 13th | 36 | ||||||
| 2002 | OPC Euroteam | Opel Astra V8 Coupé 2001 | HOC QR | HOC CR | ZOL QR | ZOL CR | DON QR | DON CR | SAC QR | SAC CR | NOR QR | NOR CR | LAU QR | LAU CR | NÜR QR | NÜR CR | A1R QR 18 | A1R CR 10 | ZAN QR | ZAN CR | HOC QR | HOC CR | 21st | 0 |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Opel Team Joest | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | MUG 1 11 | MUG 2 8 | HEL 1 3 | HEL 2 Ret | DON 1 14 | DON 2 11 | EST 1 11 | EST 2 11 | MAG 1 8 | MAG 2 5 | 11th | 26 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1996 | Team Rosberg Opel | Opel Calibra V6 4x4 | HOC 1 15 | HOC 2 Ret | NÜR 1 5 | NÜR 2 2 | EST 1 16 | EST 2 Ret | HEL 1 5 | HEL 2 3 | NOR 1 4 | NOR 2 3 | DIE 1 7 | DIE 2 Ret | SIL 1 5 | SIL 2 2 | NÜR 1 7 | NÜR 2 5 | MAG 1 5 | MAG 2 3 | MUG 1 9 | MUG 2 15 | HOC 1 5 | HOC 2 8 | INT 1 6 | INT 2 9 | SUZ 1 Ret | SUZ 2 8 | 5th | 148 |
(key)
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Hogan Racing | 9 | Reynard 98i | Mercedes-BenzIC108E | MIA 14 | MOT 29 | LBH 18 | NZR 16 | RIO 10 | STL 9 | MIL 19 | DET 26 | POR 25 | CLE 28 | TOR 24 | MIS 20 | MDO 15 | ROA 18 | VAN 8 | LS 28 | HOU 10 | SRF 5 | FON 21 | 20th | 25 | [20] |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points | Ref | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | BMW Motorsport | LMP | BMW V12 LMR | BMWS70 6.0 L V12 | SEB 1 | ATL | MOS | SON 1 | POR 2 | PET 3 | MON 1 | LSV 1 | 4th | 123 | [21] | |||||
| 2000 | BMW Motorsport | LMP | BMW V12 LMR | BMWS70 6.0 L V12 | SEB 3 | CHA 1 | SIL 1 | NÜR 2 | SON 3 | MOS 2 | TEX 4 | ROS 3 | PET 5 | MON 3 | LSV 9 | ADE | 6th | 220 | [22] | |
| 2001 | BMW Motorsport | GT | BMW M3 | BMW 3.2L I6 | TEX 5 | 2nd | 180 | [23] | ||||||||||||
| BMW M3 GTR | BMW 4.0L V8 | SEB 3 | DON Ret | JAR 2 | SON 1 | POR 3 | MOS 1 | MID 1 | MON 1 | PET 4 | ||||||||||
| 2002 | TeamCadillac | LMP900 | Cadillac Northstar LMP02 | CadillacNorthstar 4.0L Turbo V8 | SEB Ret | SON | MID | AME | WAS | TRO | MOS 3 | MON 3 | MIA 2 | PET 3 | 13th | 101 | [24] | |||
| 2003 | ADTChampion Racing | LMP900 | Audi R8 | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | SEB 2 | ATL 1 | SON 2 | TRO 2 | MOS 4 | AME 1 | MON 3 | MIA 1 | PET 1 | 3rd | 163 | [25] | ||||
| 2004 | ADTChampion Racing | LMP1 | Audi R8 | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | SEB 2 | MID 1 | LIM 1 | SON 1 | POR 1 | MOS 2 | AME 1 | PET 1 | MON 2 | 1st | 164 | [26] | ||||
| 2005 | ADTChampion Racing | LMP1 | Audi R8 | Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 | SEB 1 | ATL 1 | MID 5 | LIM 1 | SON 3 | POR Ret | AME 3 | MOS 2 | PET 3 | MON 4 | 3rd | 148 | [27] | |||
Source:[18] | ||||||||||||||||||||
