JJ Lehto

Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjyrki ˈjærvilehto]; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver.

JJ Lehto
Lehto in 2004
Born (1966-01-31) 31 January 1966
Espoo, Finland
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Finnish
Active years19891994
TeamsOnyx, Scuderia Italia, Sauber, Benetton
Entries70 (62 starts)
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums1
Career points10
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1989 Portuguese Grand Prix
Last entry1994 Australian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1990–1991, 1995–1997, 1999, 2002–2005
TeamsRichard Lloyd Racing, Kremer Racing, Kokusai Kaihatsu, GTC Competition, BMW Motorsport, Team Cadillac, Champion Racing
Best finish1st (1995, 2005)
Class wins2 (1995, 2005)

He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, who first suggested that Jyrki Järvilehto should abbreviate his name to the more manageable JJ Lehto.[1]

Early career

Like many racing drivers Lehto began in karts at age 8, winning numerous events, before graduating to Formula Ford at the early age of 15. A switch to single seaters saw him dominate the Scandinavian Formula Ford. He then won the British and European Formula 2000 championship in 1987 and went on to win the coveted British Formula 3 title in 1988,[2] driving for Pacific 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.

Formula One career

In 1989 Lehto tested for Ferrari before making his Formula One debut for the Onyx team as a late-season replacement for Bertrand Gachot.[2] Though he failed to prequalify for his first race at Estoril he impressed with his speed in the tough sessions and made his first start in the following meeting. In the wet season finale at Adelaide he ran as high as 5th before retiring with waterlogged electrics. Over the summer Onyx were sold to Swiss racer turned businessman Peter Monteverdi. Lehto, marked by many as a star of the future, was paired with Gregor Foitek but financial difficulties hampered his season, leading to the team's withdrawal after the Hungarian Grand Prix (one of five events the Finn failed to qualify for – though he had been hindered by the team's poor preparation, including a driveshaft being fitted the wrong way around for several meetings, and favouritism towards Foitek, whose father was involved with the buyout).

For 1991 he was signed by the ambitious Scuderia Italia team, financed by Beppe Lucchini with a Dallara chassis, Judd V10 engines and Emanuele 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 wet San 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 with Pierluigi Martini and using Ferrari V12 engines but the new Dallara B192 chassis had severe handling problems. Lehto's best result was 7th at Spa, his worst a failure to qualify at the Hungaroring.

He landed the second seat (alongside Austrian Karl Wendlinger) at the new, much-anticipated Sauber team for 1993, running Ilmor engines. The season started very well as Lehto survived a late downpour at Kyalami to score 5th place on the team's debut, then finished 4th at Imola despite a late engine failure. However, after a collision with Wendlinger at Monaco his relationship with both his teammate and Sauber became frosty and his season tailed off with no more points scored.

For 1994 he saw off competition from Michele Alboreto and Luca Badoer to land the second seat at Benetton alongside Michael Schumacher. However, he injured his neck testing the new B194 in pre-season with test driver Jos Verstappen taking his place for the first two rounds of the championship. Lehto returned to the cockpit for the ill-fated San Marino Grand Prix despite some question marks over his fitness. He qualified 5th but stalled on the grid, his car being struck from behind by Pedro Lamy's Lotus. Despite running 3rd in Spain before an engine failure and scoring a point in Canada (after the disqualification of Christian Fittipaldi) it was clear his injuries had not healed fully and he was replaced once again by Verstappen for the French Grand Prix. He returned to the cockpit for the Italian and Portuguese rounds in place of the suspended Schumacher but did not impress and was released entirely soon afterwards when the team signed Johnny 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 replacement Andrea de Cesaris was unreachable.

Post-Formula One career

JJ Lehto - Opel Calibra V6 4x4 leads Nicola Larini - Alfa Romeo 155 V6 Ti at Donington 1995

After his Formula One career stalled, and advised by his manager Keke 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 and sports car racing.

An ex-Lehto McLaren F1 GTR

He was a late addition to the 1995 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a McLaren F1 GTR, but he won the race outright, at his third attempt, sharing the car with Yannick Dalmas and Masanori 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 by BMW to join the factory squad in the inaugural FIA GT season, partnering Steve Soper. Even though success came initially easily, including a win in front of his home crowd at the Thunder In Helsinki event, the might of Mercedes-Benz caught up with the McLarens and left Lehto conceding the title to former DTM rival Bernd Schneider.

After an unsuccessful 1998 campaign as a Mercedes-Benz factory driver in the American-based single-seater CART 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 the 12 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.

He 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 the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) the following year, having to race a near standard 320i tin-top racer. 2002 started with unemployment, but he was picked up by Cadillac as an addition to their Northstar LMP sportscar programme at Le Mans and in the ALMS series. Although the car was not on the pace of the Audi R8s or Panoz 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 company General 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 their Audi R8.

JJ Lehto at 2005 Petit Le Mans.

Lehto won four times in 2003 (including the prestigious Petit Le Mans event at Road 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 British Formula 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 and Max 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 he 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 by Narain Karthikeyan.

In 2001 Lehto joined Finnish television as an expert race commentator and remained a mainstay at MTV3's Finnish Formula One race broadcasts (and also for the pay-channel MTV3 MAX) until 2010, alongside Oskari Saari.

Boating accident

The scene of the boating accident

On 17 June 2010, Lehto was involved in a boating accident in Ekenäs. The accident happened when the boat carrying Lehto and his friend, whose identity was not released, hit the base of a bridge in a canal. Lehto was injured and the other man was killed in the accident. Lehto had been drinking throughout the day and was heavily intoxicated at the time of the accident.[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 accident.[6] Lehto faced charges of negligent homicide, reckless driving and driving under the influence.[7][8] Regardless of the pending trial, Lehto made a return to sportscasting on the Finnish sports-channel UrhoTV, commentating on a DTM event.[9] On 14 December 2011, the District 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, the Court of Appeal cleared him of all charges relating to the accident, finding the evidence regarding who had been driving the boat inconclusive.[10][11]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(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

Complete Formula One results

(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 Onyx ORE-1 Ford V8 BRA SMR MON MEX USA CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR
DNPQ
ESP
Ret
JPN
DNPQ
AUS
Ret
NC 0
1990 Monteverdi Onyx Formula One Onyx ORE-1 Ford V8 USA
DNQ
BRA
DNQ
NC 0
Onyx ORE-1B Ford V8 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 Dallara BMS-191 Judd V10 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 Dallara BMS-192 Ferrari V12 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 Sauber C12 Sauber V10 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 Seven Benetton Ford Benetton B194 Ford V8 BRA PAC SMR
Ret
MON
7
ESP
Ret
CAN
6
FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA
9
POR
Ret
EUR 24th 1
Sauber Mercedes Sauber C13 Mercedes V10 JPN
Ret
AUS
10

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1990 Richard Lloyd Racing
Italya Sport
Manuel Reuter
James Weaver
Porsche 962C GTi C1 181 DNF DNF
1991 Porsche Kremer Racing Manuel Reuter
Harri 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 Bellm
James Weaver
McLaren F1 GTR GT1 323 9th 7th
1997 Team BMW Motorsport
BMW Team Schnitzer
Steve Soper
Nelson Piquet
McLaren F1 GTR GT1 236 DNF DNF
1999 Team BMW Motorsport Tom Kristensen
Jörg Müller
BMW V12 LMR LMP 304 DNF DNF
2002 Team Cadillac Éric Bernard
Emmanuel Collard
Cadillac Northstar LMP02 LMP900 334 12th 10th
2003 Champion Racing Emanuele Pirro
Stefan Johansson
Audi R8 LMP900 372 3rd 1st
2004 ADT Champion Racing Marco Werner
Emanuele Pirro
Audi R8 LMP900 368 3rd 3rd
2005 ADT Champion Racing Tom Kristensen
Marco Werner
Audi R8 LMP900 370 1st 1st

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft/Masters results

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

Complete International Touring Car Championship

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

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
1998 Hogan Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz IC108E 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

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1999 BMW Motorsport LMP BMW V12 LMR BMW S70 6.0 L V12 M SEB
ovr:1
cls:1
ATL MOS SON
ovr:1
cls:1
POR
ovr:2
cls:2
PET
ovr:3
cls:3
MON
ovr:1
cls:1
LSV
ovr:1
cls:1
4th 123
2000 BMW Motorsport LMP BMW V12 LMR BMW S70 6.0 L V12 M SEB
ovr:3
cls:3
CHA
ovr:1
cls:1
SIL
ovr:1
cls:1
NÜR
ovr:2
cls:2
SON
ovr:3
cls:3
MOS
ovr:2
cls:2
TEX
ovr:4
cls:4
ROS
ovr:3
cls:3
PET
ovr:5
cls:5
MON
ovr:3
cls:3
LSV
ovr:26
cls:9
ADE 6th 220
2001 BMW Motorsport GT BMW M3 BMW 3.2L I6 M TEX
ovr:12
cls:5
2nd 180
BMW M3 GTR BMW 4.0L V8 SEB
ovr:10
cls:3
DON
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
JAR
ovr:6
cls:2
SON
ovr:7
cls:1
POR
ovr:10
cls:3
MOS
ovr:10
cls:1
MID
ovr:14
cls:1
MON
ovr:9
cls:1
PET
ovr:12
cls:4
2002 Team Cadillac LMP900 Cadillac Northstar LMP02 Cadillac Northstar 4.0L Turbo V8 M SEB
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
SON MID AME WAS TRO MOS
ovr:3
cls:3
MON
ovr:3
cls:3
MIA
ovr:2
cls:2
PET
ovr:3
cls:3
13th 101
2003 ADT Champion Racing LMP900 Audi R8 Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 M SEB
ovr:2
cls:2
ATL
ovr:1
cls:1
SON
ovr:3
cls:2
TRO
ovr:2
cls:2
MOS
ovr:20
cls:4
AME
ovr:1
cls:1
MON
ovr:4
cls:3
MIA
ovr:1
cls:1
PET
ovr:1
cls:1
3rd 163
2004 ADT Champion Racing LMP1 Audi R8 Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 M SEB
ovr:2
cls:2
MID
ovr:1
cls:1
LIM
ovr:1
cls:1
SON
ovr:1
cls:1
POR
ovr:1
cls:1
MOS
ovr:2
cls:2
AME
ovr:1
cls:1
PET
ovr:1
cls:1
MON
ovr:2
cls:2
1st 164
2005 ADT Champion Racing LMP1 Audi R8 Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 M SEB
ovr:1
cls:1
ATL
ovr:1
cls:1
MID
ovr:18
cls:5
LIM
ovr:1
cls:1
SON
ovr:3
cls:3
POR
ovr:Ret
cls:Ret
AME
ovr:3
cls:3
MOS
ovr:2
cls:2
PET
ovr:7
cls:3
MON
ovr:4
cls:4
3rd 148

References

  1. "Drivers — Jyrki Jarvilehto JJ Lehto". GrandPrix.com. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. JJ Lehto career statistics Archived 2008-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, MTV3 (in Finnish)
  3. Meaden, Richard (June 2010). "McLaren F1 at the Le Mans 24 hours". Evo. Retrieved 2010-07-15.
  4. "Former F1 driver JJ Lehto involved in accident". thef1times.com. The F1 Times. 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  5. "Lehto suffers injuries in boat crash". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. 2010-06-19. Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  6. "MTVuutiset.fi".
  7. http://www.iltalehti.fi/uutiset/2011121414945611_uu.shtml
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2011-09-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2011-09-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Hovioikeus vapautti Järvilehdon". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Sanoma. 30 November 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
  11. Elizalde, Pablo (30 November 2012). "JJ Lehto released from all charges relating to 2010 boat crash". AutoSport.com. Haymarket Media Group. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Johnny Herbert
British Formula Three Champion
1988
Succeeded by
David Brabham
Preceded by
Yannick Dalmas
Hurley Haywood
Mauro Baldi
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1995
With: Yannick Dalmas & Masanori Sekiya
Succeeded by
Manuel Reuter
Davy Jones
Alexander Wurz
Preceded by
Inaugural
Race of Champions
Nations' Cup Winner

1999
With: Tommi Mäkinen & Kari Tiainen
Succeeded by
Régis Laconi
Yvan Muller
Gilles Panizzi
Preceded by
Frank Biela
Marco Werner
American Le Mans Series
Champion

2004
With: Marco Werner
Succeeded by
Frank Biela
Emanuele Pirro
Preceded by
Seiji Ara
Tom Kristensen
Rinaldo Capello
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
2005
With: Marco Werner & Tom Kristensen
Succeeded by
Frank Biela
Emanuele Pirro
Marco Werner
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Johnny Herbert
Autosport
National Racing Driver of the Year

1988
Succeeded by
Allan McNish
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