Bas Leinders

Bas Leinders
Nationality Belgian
Born (1975-07-16) 16 July 1975 (age 49)
Bree, Belgium

Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from Belgium. He was a Formula One test and reserve driver in 2004 for the Minardi F1 team, taking part in the Friday practice sessions during Grand Prix weekends, making 17 appearances in all. He is also a former British Formula Ford and German Formula Three champion, winning the titles in 1995 and 1998 respectively.

Career

Born in Bree, Leinders was one of the most successful Belgian racing drivers of the nineties and the beginning of the 21st century. He started his career in karting, winning his very first race. At the age of 14 he was already a European Champion beating Jarno Trulli, Ralph Firman and others. In 1992 Leinders was an official works driver for the Italian Tony Kart outfit.

Leinders started his automobile career with the Formula Ford. He was not only crowned Benelux Champion but he also obtained the pole position at the prestigious Formula Ford Festival at his first participation, later becoming European and British Formula Ford Champion. Not being able to gather enough money to make the step to Formula Three, Leinders decided on the European Formula Opel Championship (for Van Amersfoort Racing). With a record of 8 wins he secured the Championship several races before the end.

With some more backing he graduated to the German Formula 3 series with VAR. The Belgian finished 2nd in his maiden F3 weekend just behind Nick Heidfeld. In his second year, he won the Championship and was invited by the McLaren Junior team to partner Nick Heidfeld in the last race of the Formula 3000 season. Leinders obtained his best F3000 results in 2001, finishing second twice behind Tomáš Enge and Justin Wilson respectively.

Leinders driving for Minardi during free practice for the 2004 United States Grand Prix

In 2002 and 2003 Leinders competed in the World Series by Nissan, he finished third in the Championship on both occasions. His good performance in this series and especially winning the last race of the season gave him the opportunity to test with the Jordan F1 Team which resulted in a contract with the Minardi F1 Team as an official Friday Test and reserve driver in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship.

Leinders was pre-selected several times by journalists for the title "Belgian Sportsman of the Year". Leinders was crowned "Champion of Belgium" in 2001 by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium, the award presented by Crown-prince of Belgium, Prince Philippe. The Belgian also won the Golden Helmet in 2004 for his performances in Formula One with the Minardi F1 Team.

From 2005, Leinders was a regular racer in the FIA GT Championship with Belgian Racing, driving a Belgian-built Gillet Vertigo. In 2011 he became the team principal of the rebranded Marc VDS Racing, which was also his last year as full-time driver.

In 2014, he ran the entire season of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series with Marc VDS Racing's Toyota Camry in the Elite 1 category. He finished the season in 14th place in the standings with two Top 5 finishes, one at Brands Hatch and one at Le Mans.

After Marc VDS's victory in the 2015 24 Hours of Spa, Leinders announced he parted ways with the team.[1]

In 2016, Leinders became sporting manager of the McLaren GT factory programme and team manager of Garage 59. In 2018 he joined Optimum Motorsport.

Leinders has also worked as color analyst at Formula One broadcasts on Telenet's Play Sports.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Podiums Pole positions F.Laps Points Position
1994 European Formula Ford MB Racing ? ? ? ? ? 13 8th
Belgian Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? ? 1st
1995 British Formula Ford Championship Swift Racing Cars ? ? ? ? ? 127 1st
European Formula Ford Championship ? ? ? ? ? 55 1st
Formula Ford Festival 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
1996 European Formula Opel Van Amersfoort Racing 16 7 10 ? 8 239 1st
1997 German Formula Three Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 18 0 4 2 1 100 7th
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Monaco Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 7th
1998 German Formula Three Championship Van Amersfoort Racing 20 7 10 9 4 200 1st
Masters of Formula 3 1 0 0 0 0 N/A DNF
Macau Grand Prix 1 0 0 0 1 N/A 8th
Belcar MW-Racing ? ? ? ? ? 212 7th
1999 International F3000 KTR 7 0 0 0 0 1 23rd
2000 International F3000 Kid Jensen Racing 9 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Belgian Procar MG Racing 7 0 1 1 1 67 9th
Belcar GTB Team Beliën ? ? ? ? ? ? 1st
2001 International F3000 KTR 12 0 2 0 0 17 7th
2002 FIA GT Championship Carsport Holland 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
World Series by Nissan KTR 18 2 8 2 6 184 3rd
2003 World Series by Nissan Racing Engineering 18 2 4 2 1 128 3rd
2004 Formula One Minardi Test driver
2005 FIA GT Championship Belgian Racing 5 3 3 3 2 N/A
2006 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 9 ? ? ? ? ? 1st
2007 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 8 ? ? ? ? ? 1st
2008 FIA GT Championship - G2 Belgian Racing 8 5 6 5 0 100 1st
2009 FIA GT Championship - GT1 Marc VDS Racing Team 8 0 0 0 0 9 14th

Career highlights

  • 2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Marc VDS Racing Team
  • 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship – Marc VDS Racing Team
  • 2009 FIA GT Championship – Ford GT
  • 2008 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2
  • 2007 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2
  • 2006 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo 1st G2
  • 2005 FIA GT Championship – Gillet Vertigo – 3 class wins
  • 2004 Formula One World Championship test driver in Minardi-Cosworth F1 Team. Did not participate in races
  • 2003 3rd place – Superfund World Series – 2 wins.
  • 2003 Winner TA Class 24 hours of Zolder in a BMW M3 GTR
  • 2002 24 h of Spa in a Chrysler Viper GTS-R
  • 2002 3rd place – Telefónica World Series – 2 wins .
  • 2002 4th in 24 hours of Zolder in a BMW Z3
  • 2001 Formula 3000 Championship – KTR 2-second places.
  • 2000 Formula 3000 Championship – Kid Jensen Racing.
  • 1999 Formula 3000 Championship – Witmeur Team KTR .
  • 1999 3rd 24 hours of Spa
  • 1998 German Formula 3 Champion
  • 1998 2nd 24 hours of Zolder
  • 1997 7th German Formula 3 Championship
  • 1996 European Formula Opel Champion
  • 1995 British and European Formula Ford Champion
  • 1994 Benelux Formula Ford Champion
  • 1992 Vice-European and Belgian Kart Champion
  • 1991 Belgian Kart Champion
  • 1990 European Kart Champion

Complete German Formula Three results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics 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 19 20 DC Pts
1997 Van Amersfoort Racing Opel A HOC
1

4
HOC
2

2
NÜR
1

6
NÜR
2

6
SAC
1

3
SAC
2

2
NOR
1

16
NOR
2

Ret
WUN
1

8
WUN
2

Ret
ZWE
1

8
ZWE
2

Ret
SAL
1

6
SAL
2

Ret
LAH
1

4
LAH
2

3
NÜR
1

9
NÜR
2

11
7th 100
1998 Van Amersfoort Racing Opel A HOC
1

1
HOC
2

1
NÜR
1

16
NÜR
2

7
SAC
1

1
SAC
2

1
NOR
1

2
NOR
2

6
LAH
1

7
LAH
2

7
WUN
1

Ret
WUN
2

Ret
ZWE
1

1
ZWE
2

2
SAL
1

14
SAL
2

3
OSC
1

1
OSC
2

1
NÜR
1

2
NÜR
2

Ret
1st 200

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1998 West Competition OSC IMO CAT SIL MON PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR
DNS
NC 0
1999 Witmeur KTR IMO
DNQ
MON
DNQ
CAT
Ret
MAG
6
SIL
16
A1R
Ret
HOC
Ret
HUN
Ret
SPA
DNQ
NÜR
Ret
23rd 1
2000 Kid Jensen Racing IMO
16
SIL
Ret
CAT
13
NÜR
Ret
MON
Ret
MAG
10
A1R
11
HOC
DNQ
HUN
7
SPA
Ret
NC 0
2001 KTR INT
10
IMO
9
CAT
2
A1R
2
MON
Ret
NÜR
11
MAG
Ret
SIL
8
HOC
6
HUN
6
SPA
7
MNZ
4
7th 17

Complete Formula One participations

(key)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 WDC Points
2004 Wilux Minardi Cosworth Minardi PS04B Cosworth V10 AUS
*
MAL
TD
BHR
TD
SMR
TD
ESP
TD
MON
TD
EUR
TD
CAN
TD
USA
TD
FRA
TD
GBR
TD
GER
TD
 –  –
Minardi Cosworth HUN
TD
BEL
TD
ITA
TD
CHN
TD
JPN
TD
BRA
TD

* Leinders was entered as third driver in Australian Grand Prix but was refused a superlicence until he completed the required mileage in an F1 car. He satisfied this requirement before the next race.

Complete GT1 World Championship 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 Points
2010 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford ABU
QR

6
ABU
CR

13
SIL
QR

19
SIL
CR

8
BRN
QR

16
BRN
CR

Ret
PRI
QR

20
PRI
CR

4
SPA
QR

9
SPA
CR

Ret
NÜR
QR

Ret
NÜR
CR

11
ALG
QR

Ret
ALG
CR

5
NAV
QR

3
NAV
CR

5
INT
QR

11
INT
CR

5
SAN
QR

3
SAN
CR

Ret
14th 54
2011 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford ABU
QR

11
ABU
CR

DNS
ZOL
QR

Ret
ZOL
CR

10
ALG
QR

Ret
ALG
CR

10
SAC
QR

Ret
SAC
CR

8
SIL
QR

11
SIL
CR

6
NAV
QR

12
NAV
CR

10
PRI
QR

Ret
PRI
CR

12
ORD
QR

10
ORD
CR

10
BEI
QR

Ret
BEI
CR

Ret
SAN
QR

Ret
SAN
CR

9
22nd 18

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2010 Belgium Marc VDS Racing Team Belgium Eric De Doncker
Finland Markus Palttala
Ford GT1 GT1 26 DNF DNF
2011 Belgium Kronos Racing
Belgium Marc VDS Racing Team
Belgium Vanina Ickx
Belgium Maxime Martin
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60 LMP1 328 7th 7th
2012 France OAK Racing Denmark David Heinemeier Hansson
Belgium Maxime Martin
Morgan LMP2-Nissan LMP2 341 14th 7th

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1

NASCAR Whelen Euro Series – Elite 1 results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 NWES Points
2014 Racing Club Partners – Marc VDS 32 Toyota VAL
13
VAL
18
BRH
9
BRH
5
TOU
21
TOU
7
NUR
19
NUR
19
UMB
21
UMB
21
BUG
21
BUG
5
14th 464

References

  1. ^ Dagys, John (30 July 2015). "Leinders, Marc VDS Part Ways". Sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media, LLC. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
Sporting positions
Preceded by British Formula Ford Champion
1995
Succeeded by
Preceded by German Formula Three Champion
1998
Succeeded by