Guy Smith (racing Driver)

Guy Smith (born 12 September 1974) is a semi-retired British professional racing driver who has competed in various levels of motorsport, most notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he won in 2003, and the American Le Mans Series, which he won in 2011.

Racing career

Early career

Born in Beverley, Smith started racing karts in 1987, winning the British Championship, and in 1991 finished second in the Senior World Championship. In 1991 he entered his first car race, competing in the Formula First Winter Series, finishing second overall. In 1992 he entered the Formula Vauxhall Junior, finishing second overall in the championship, with five wins. In 1993, he entered the British Formula Ford series, once again finishing runner-up, whilst also finishing fourth in the Formula Ford Festival, driving for Swift Racing Cars in both series.

For 1994, Smith moved to the Formula Vauxhall Lotus series, finishing fourth overall, whilst also managing to finish sixth overall in the Formula Opel Lotus Nations Cup. 1995 proved to be a breakthrough year, with Smith winning the British Formula Renault Championship, finishing fourth overall in the Formula Renault Eurocup (both times driving for Manor Motorsport) and as prize he received a day of testing a Williams FW17 Formula 1 car. In 1996, he made the switch to the British Formula 3, driving for Fortec Motorsport winning his first race in the series, eventually finishing sixth overall. He also entered that year's Macau Grand Prix, finishing tenth for the TOM's team, and entered the Masters of Formula 3 race, failing to finish.

He remained in the British F3 for 1997, but had a less successful year, finishing ninth overall, with an eighteenth place in the Masters of Formula 3, driving in both for DC Cook Motorsports. He also made his debut in the FIA GT Championship, driving for the Cirtek Motorsport team in their GT2-class Saleen Mustang at the Spa 4 Hours, finishing 25th overall and 13th in class. In 1998 he moved to America to contest the Indy Lights series, driving for Johansson Motorsports, where he finished third in the Championship and being crowned 'Rookie of the Year'. He remained in the series for 1999, moving to Forsythe Racing but was less successful, finishing just ninth overall.

2000–2002

In 2000, Smith made the switch to the American Le Mans Series, entering ten events for Johansson-Matthews Racing, finishing fifteenth in class. He also competed in the then-new Rolex Sports Car Series, entering the 24 Hours of Daytona for the Johansson-Matthews Racing team, and finishing fourth in class. He also made his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut that year, driving once more for Johansson-Matthews Racing, but the team would fail to finish due to engine failure, with some consolation for Smith coming from being awarded the "Rookie of the Year" title.

For 2001, Smith moved to the new IMSA-run European Le Mans Series, once more racing for Johansson Racing, whom were entering an Audi R8. He competed in the first three races, finishing ninth overall in the championship. Smith also entered the FIA Sportscar Championship race at Monza for Redman Bright, qualifying on pole, but eventually finishing last of the four finishers. He entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans once more, this time driving for the works Team Bentley. The race was not successful, with the car catching fire with Smith at the wheel, and being forced to retire.

2002 saw Smith being less active: a second place at that year's Daytona 24 Hours was his solitary entry of the season. He spent the majority of the year testing for Team Bentley as their official test driver, due to their decision to only enter one car at that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

2003–2005

He was more active in 2003, competing for Bentley in the 12 Hours of Sebring, part of the American Le Mans Series, finishing fourth overall in Bentley's first North American race for over 70 years. This was followed by an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with co-drivers Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello, once more driving the Bentley Speed 8. Following his Le Mans 24 Hours victory, Smith entered the Spa 24 Hours, part of the FIA GT Championship, driving for Team Maranello Concessionaires in an N-GT class Ferrari 360 Modena. He also drove for the team in the Donington Park round of the championship.
He also entered his first, and to date only, Race of Champions event. Towards the end of the year, Smith drove a Peugeot 206 XS rally car at a test session, held by ProSpeed Motorsport at the RallyDrive School in Lincolnshire.

In 2004, he once more only entered two prototype races, finishing third at the 12 Hours of Sebring, driving for Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx. He also finished second overall at Le Mans, driving once more for Audi, with Johnny Herbert and Jamie Davies as his co-drivers. However, that year Smith made his Champ Car World Series debut, during the second half of the season, driving for Paul Gentilozzi's Rocketsports team. His best finishes were a pair of ninth places, and he finished 18th overall.

For 2005, Smith competed in the first seven races of the Grand Am Rolex Series, finishing 36th in class, driving a Riley Mk XI Pontiac entered by Orbit Racing. His best result was an eighth placing at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen race. He also competed in both the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Petit Le Mans, driving a Dyson Racing Team-entered MG-Lola EX257, both races being part of the American Le Mans Series, with a second placing overall at the latter race being his best result. His other entry that year came as part of the Le Mans Endurance Series, where he finished second in the LMP2 class for Chamberlain Synergy Motor, driving a Lola B05/40 AER at the 1000km of Istanbul.

2006–2008

Smith opened up his 2006 season with a 14th place overall (10th in class) at the Daytona 24 Hours, driving for Howard - Boss Motorsports in their Crawford DP03 Pontiac. He competed in ten further races for the team that year, which ran under the HBM banner in the Rolex Sports Car Series (four races total in this series), and the Dyson Racing banner in ALMS races (seven races total). His best finish of the RSCS season was a seventh place at the Linder-Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami, whilst his best finish of the ALMS season was a second place at the Grand Prix of Mosport. Despite only competing in 70% of the races, Smith finished sixth overall in the ALMS that year.

Like in 2006, Smith started his 2007 season at the Daytona 24 Hours, driving for Howard Motorsports. However, it would not prove to be a successful race, with the team retiring after 295 laps. For the first time, he entered a full ALMS season, once more for Dyson Racing, who were now running the Porsche RS Spyder. His best overall finish was a third at the Petit Le Mans, with the second in the LMP2 class also being his best result of the season. He finished fourth in the class championship.

Smith remained with Dyson Racing for 2008, who were still running the Porsche RS Spyders. Although prior to the start of the season Smith had hoped to take the team's first win, the season would prove to be less successful, with one class podium, at the 12 Hours of Sebring, only being enough for a sixth place championship finish. For the first time in four years, Smith returned to Le Mans, driving the Quifel ASM Team's Lola B05/40 AER, alongside Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pla. Although only finishing 20th overall, the trio did manage to finish fifth in class.

2009–2011

For 2009, Smith once more remained with Dyson Racing, who were now entering the new Lola B09/86 Mazda LMP2-class cars. He finished fourth overall, and drove a biofuel-powered version of the car in the last two races, which rendered him ineligible for points in those events. He made his first appearance in the Le Mans Series, and a LMP1-spec car, for several years at the 1000 km of Spa, driving the Team LNT-entered Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S, and finishing sixteenth overall, eleventh in class. Smith also returned to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, once more driving for the Quifel ASM Team alongside Miguel Amaral and Olivier Pia, but this time the team had entered the Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 LMP2-class car. The race proved to be fruitless, with a fuel line failure, plus Amaral crashing out, forcing the team to retire the car.

Smith remained with Dyson Racing for the 2010 ALMS. He entered eight of the nine races, finishing sixth overall, and taking his, and the team's, first victory in ALMS at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. It was announced on 15 February 2010 that Smith would be competing in the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Rebellion Racing Team driving a Lola B10/60 in the LMP1 class. Although targeting an overall victory, the team were forced to retire, after Jean-Christophe Boullion crashed the Lola B10/60-Rebellion out of eleventh place. He also drove for Rebellion in the 8 Hours of Castellet, part of the Le Mans Series, where he finished third overall.

For the seventh successive year, Smith remained with Dyson Racing in the American Le Mans Series, driving with Chris Dyson. The team took the title with one race to go, at the American Le Mans Monterey, where they finished second overall. They had also been involved in a very close race at the Road Race Showcase, held at the Road America track, losing by just 0.112 seconds to the Muscle Milk Racing of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr. He also entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Rebellion Racing, for the second time in a row, but the events of the previous year repeated themselves, with Boullion crashing out of the race, forcing the team to retire the car.

2012–2013

For 2012, Smith returned with Dyson Racing, now driving a new Lola B12/60 Mazda, to defend his ALMS title, but came up 9 points short, finishing in second place. Smith was involved in the series' closest ever finish, at the Road Race Showcase, winning by just 0.083 seconds from Muscle Milk Racing. Although initially signed up to drive for Dyson in their first ever 24 Hours of Le Mans race, the team withdrew from the event due to financial reasons, and Smith did not compete. Smith did, however, make an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, driving several Bentleys, including the new Continental GT Speed. He had also driven one of the parade Continental GT Speeds at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

For the ninth successive season, Smith remained with Dyson Racing for the 2013 American Le Mans Series. Electrical and mechanical gremlins forced him out of the 12 Hours of Sebring, after just 81 laps.

Motorsports Career Results

Complete American open–wheel racing results

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

Indy Lights

Champ Car World Series

(key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

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

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Guy
1974 births
Living people
English racing drivers
Champ Car drivers
Indy Lights drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Ford drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Karting World Championship drivers
EFDA Nations Cup drivers
Blancpain Endurance Series drivers
24 Hours of Spa drivers
ADAC GT Masters drivers
Sportspeople from Beverley
Audi Sport drivers
Forsythe Racing drivers
American Spirit Team Johansson drivers
Rocketsports Racing drivers
Rebellion Racing drivers
United Autosports drivers
Abt Sportsline drivers
Arena Motorsport drivers
Manor Motorsport drivers
Fortec Motorsport drivers
TOM'S drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers