Geoff Lees calls it quits

[Gerard]

From Autosport:

Sportscar star and double Formula 2 champion Geoff Lees is hanging up his helmet at the age of 49.

The Briton took a sabbatical from the sport in 1999, but after two more races this year he has decided to retire. Lees said he will now concentrate on an undisclosed business venture outside motorsport.

'I don't really want to retire, but whatever I do I want to put 100% effort into it,' he explained after making his final race appearance in Sunday's SportsRacing World Cup event at the Nurburgring.

'I couldn't do that with my new business if I'm still racing, so it's time to pull the plug.'

But Lees didn't rule out a return to racing next year should his new venture fail to come to fruition.

'If that happened I'd imagine I would continue racing if I could,' he said. 'I guess if a good full-time ride came up I'd also be tempted, but I haven't gone out looking for one.'

Lees enjoyed a varied career that spanned nearly 30 seasons. He lifted both the European and All-Japan F2 crowns and won further single-seaters titles in the Japanese Grand-Champion series. He was also a race winner in Formula 3, Formula Atlantic, British Formula 1, Formula 3000 in Japan and sportscars.

He was the first European driver to carve a successful career in Japan, where he lived for nearly 10 years and met his future wife. In the mid-1980s, Lees began a long relationship with Toyota, for which he made no fewer than nine starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Lees was re-signed for the French enduro when the Japanese manufacturer returned to sportscars in 1998. Gearbox failure just 90 minutes from the chequered flag deprived him of the biggest win of his career.

Lees started five Grands Prix with five different teams during a stop-start F1 career that refused to take off. His best result was a seventh place with Tyrrell in the 1980 German Grand Prix when he was called up as a last-minute substitute.