Bas Leinders (born 16 July 1975) is a retired professional racing driver from

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He was a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

test and reserve driver in for the

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal followin ...

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 The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry level single seater motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United Kingdom to ...

and

German Formula Three The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to ...

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 Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...

, winning his very first race. At the age of 14 he was already a European Champion beating

Jarno Trulli Jarno Trulli (; born 13 July 1974) is an Italian racing driver. He regularly competed in Formula One from 1997 to 2011, driving for Minardi, Prost, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Lotus Racing and Team Lotus. His best result in the World Drivers' Cham ...

Ralph Firman Ralph David Firman Jr. (born 20 May 1975) is a British-born former racing driver who raced under Irish citizenship (his mother Angela is from Ireland) and an Irish-issued racing licence. Earlier in his career he raced under a British licence. ...

and others. In 1992 Leinders was an official works driver for the Italian

Tony Kart Tony Kart is an Italian company (a brand of OTK Kart Group), that produces racing kart chassis. It was founded in 1958 by Antonio "Tony" Bosio. It is based in Prevalle near Brescia in northern Italy. Tony Kart chassis have been used to win several ...

outfit. Leinders started his automobile career with the

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

. He was not only crowned Benelux Champion but he also obtained the pole position at the prestigious

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

at his first participation, later becoming

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and British Formula Ford Champion. Not being able to gather enough money to make the step to

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

, Leinders decided on the European Formula Opel Championship (for

Van Amersfoort Racing Van Amersfoort Racing is an auto racing team based in the Netherlands. In 2022 the team competes in the Formula 2 Championship, the Formula 3 Championship, the Formula Regional European Championship, Euroformula Open Championship, Italian F4 Cha ...

). 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 Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...

. In his second year, he won the Championship and was invited by the

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

Junior team to partner Nick Heidfeld in the last race of the

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

season. Leinders obtained his best F3000 results in 2001, finishing second twice behind

Tomáš Enge Tomáš Enge (; born 11 September 1976) is a Czech former professional racing driver who has competed in many classes of motorsport, including three races in Formula One. He has twice been sanctioned professionally for drug offences. Career Born ...

and Justin Wilson respectively. Minardi usgp 2004

In 2002 and 2003 Leinders competed in the

World Series by Nissan The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

, 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 Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

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 The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

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 The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series (formerly known as Racecar Euro Series and Euro-Racecar NASCAR Touring Series) is an official NASCAR stock-car racing series based in Europe. It is one of NASCAR's three international-sanctioned series, alongside th ...

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 Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

and one at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

. After Marc VDS's victory in the 2015 24 Hours of Spa, Leinders announced he parted ways with the team. In 2016, Leinders became sporting manager of the McLaren GT factory programme and team manager of Garage 59. In 2018 he joined

Optimum Motorsport Optimum Motorsport is a motorsport team known for success in sportscar racing, primarily with Ginetta and McLaren GT cars. Optimum also race under the Inception Racing banner. Their record includes championship wins in 2013 British GT4, class ...

. Leinders has also worked as color analyst at

broadcasts on Telenet's

Play Sports Play Sports (formerly Prime Sport (2005-2012) and Sporting Telenet (2012-2015) is a brand of the Flemish cable distributor Telenet, which consists of a bundle of different (partly own) channels. Through television stations, competitions from vari ...

Racing record

Career summary

Career highlights

*2014 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series –

Marc VDS Racing Team Marc VDS Racing Team is a motorcycle racing team founded by Belgian owner Marc-Oswald van der Straten-Ponthoz, descendant of the founder of the Stella Artois brewery. The team competes in motorcycle racing in the Moto2 World Championship under ...

*2010 FIA GT1 World Championship –

*2009 FIA GT Championship –

Ford GT The Ford GT is a mid-engine two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by American automobile manufacturer Ford for the 2005 model year in conjunction with the company's 2003 centenary. The second generation Ford GT became available for th ...

*2008 FIA GT Championship –

Gillet Gillet is a Belgian automobile manufacturer, started in 1992 by former racing driver Tony Gillet. The company produces the Vertigo sports coupé, an ultra-lightweight (990 kg) 'bespoke' and hand-built sportscar. The slogan of the company i ...

Vertigo 1st G2 *2007 FIA GT Championship –

Vertigo 1st G2 *2006 FIA GT Championship –

Vertigo 1st G2 *2005 FIA GT Championship –

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 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial model ...

GTR *2002 24 h of Spa in a

Chrysler Viper GTS-R The Chrysler Viper GTS-R (also known as the Dodge Viper GTS-R when raced in North America) was a successful racing variant of the Dodge Viper developed in conjunction with Chrysler of North America, Oreca of France, and Reynard Motorsport of th ...

*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 International Formula 3000 results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Complete Formula One participations

(

) * Leinders was entered as Third Driver for Australia '04 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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

NASCAR

(

) (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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leinders, Bas 1975 births Living people People from Bree, Belgium Belgian racing drivers Formula Ford drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Minardi Formula One drivers International Formula 3000 drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers European Le Mans Series drivers British GT Championship drivers NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Limburg (Belgium) West Competition drivers Van Amersfoort Racing drivers Racing Engineering drivers OAK Racing drivers KTR drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers