| [ News Index ][ SpeedCenter Homepage ][ Copyright Info ][ SpeedCenter Galleries ] |
|
|
||
©1999 SpeedCenter Publishing Patrick Racing announced today that JJ Lehto will test the Swift chassis during the two-day open test, Tuesday, June 29 and Wednesday, June 30 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. "We are bringing JJ in to test so we can get a another opinion on where we are as far as developing the Swift chassis," said U. E. "Pat" Patrick. "I would compare this to getting another opinion from a doctor regarding a medical condition. All the information we acquire from the test will be shared with both Newman/Haas Racing and Swift Cars." Lehto, who is currently competing in the American LeMans Series, also drove for the BMW factory team that won this year's Sebring 12 Hour race and was part of the winning BMW team at the 24 Hours of LeMans. He spent the 1998 season driving for Hogan Racing in the CART FedEx Championship Series. The native of Espoo, Finland, finished 20th in the '98 PPG Cup standings with 25 points. He completed 13 of 19 races last year, with four top ten showings and one top five finish, fifth, at Australia. Lehto began his career racing in go-karts. He competed in motorcross events from 1981-83 before moving into Formula Fords, taking the Finnish Formula Ford 1600 title in 1985 and the Formula Ford EFDA Euroseries Championship in 1986. In 1987 he won the British Formula Ford 2000 Championship, claimed the EFDA Euroseries Formula Ford Championship and the Formula Ford Weltcup. Lehto took the British Formula 3 title in 1988 before moving to Formula One for the 1989 season. The talented Finn competed in Formula One from 1989-93 earning 19 top-10 finishes. He spent the 1994 season recovering from a fractured neck sustained in a Formula One pre-season testing accident. In 1995, Lehto competed in the International Touring Car series with the Opel works team and co-drove a McLaren BMW to victory in the 24 Hours of LeMans. In 1996, he again drove for the Opel works team and won the 1,000-kilometer race at Suzuka while driving for the Gulf McLaren Team. The 1997 season saw Lehto, who's given name is Jyrki Jarvilehto, finish second in the FIA GT Championship. Lehto resides in Arizona with wife Satu and daughters Juulia and Johanna. Source: Patrick Racing |
||
|
|||
|
|
|||