Paul Smart (23 April 1943 – 27 October 2021) was an English short circuit

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer who later entered Grands Prix.

Racing background

Smart started racing in the latter half of the 1960s after attending the Charles Mortimer Race School 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 ...

race circuit, Kent in 1965, initially buying a

Bultaco Bultaco was a Spanish manufacturer of two-stroke motorcycles from 1958 to 1983. In May 2014, a new Bultaco was announced. Origins The origin of the Bultaco motorcycle company dates from May 1958. Francesc "Paco" Bultó was a director of the ...

which proved expensive and unreliable, and later riding a variety of machinery in different classes on UK short-circuits.

Motorcycle Mechanics (magazine) ''Motorcycle Mechanics'' (Motorcycle, Scooter and Three-Wheeler Mechanics, also known as ''MM'') was a British monthly magazine founded in 1959 under Mercury House Publications. With the strapline "The illustrated how-to-do-it magazine", it init ...

, October 1970, p.40/41. ''Interview with Paul Smart'' by John Robinson. Accessed 9 March 2014 For 1966 Smart shared a 125 cc Honda with John Button whilst saving money to buy a 250 cc Cotton which he rode successfully at club level, eventually winning the MCN 250 cc Championship. After the Cotton engine failed, he was provided with a Greeves by Chas Mortimer. He won the 250 cc class at the ''Stars of Tomorrow'' meeting at

Mallory Park Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit situated in the village of Kirkby Mallory, just off the A47, between Leicester and Hinckley, in central England. Originally used for grass-track until 1955, a new, basically oval hard-surfaced course ...

, England on 3 July 1966 riding a Greeves. He first entered the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Manx Grand Prix in September 1966 riding a Greeves Silverstone as used by the race school. During 1967, Smart was sponsored by Charles Mortimer Senior, proprietor of the ''Charles Mortimer Race School'' based at Brands Hatch race circuit, Kent, riding from a stable consisting of RDS Greeves 250s, a Bultaco 125 and an Aermacchi 350 together with Chas Mortimer, Charles' son. Both were also employed as road race instructors at the race school. At the

Isle of Man TT Races The Isle of Man TT or Tourist Trophy races are an annual motorcycle racing event run on the Isle of Man in May/June of most years since its inaugural race in 1907. The event is often called one of the most dangerous racing events in the world ...

on a 745 cc Dunstall Dominator for Paul Dunstall, Smart scored second place in 1967, and again second on a Norton Commando in 1969, both in the Production 750 cc class. Smart moved on to regular successes during 1969 when he was sponsored by Joe Francis Motors, a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

motorcycle dealer selling

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, which provided a 750 cc Norton, a Seeley, a 250 cc Yamaha, and winning the Hutchinson 100 Production machine event on a Triumph 750 cc. For 1970 there was a works

Triumph Trident The Triumph Trident is a three-cylinder motorcycle of either 750 cc or 900 cc capacity. These bikes were produced from 1991 to 1998 at Hinckley, Leicestershire, England, by Triumph Motorcycles Ltd, the successor business to the def ...

750 cc and his own 350 cc Yamaha. In the

Transatlantic Trophy The Transatlantic Trophy (initially called Anglo-American Match Races) was an annual series of motorcycle races between the United Kingdom and America held from 1971 to 1988 and again in 1991. They were mostly held over the Easter weekend at Br ...

Anglo-American Match Races in 1971 Smart rode a Triumph triple and was joint top scorer with Ray Pickrell in the winning UK team. In 1973 and 1974 he captained the UK winning team riding a works Suzuki 750 two-stroke triple. Ducati 900 SS 1977

Smart also raced in Grands Prix in the early 1970s, with second-place results in 1971 in both the 350cc and 250cc categories, riding

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

machinery. Smart is remembered for winning the

Imola 200 The Imola 200 (also known as the 200 Miglia) is a motorcycle race held annually at Imola. The race originally ran as a modern motorcycle race from 1972 to 1985. In 2010, the Imola 200 Miglia Revival began as a classic bike race. Background In r ...

on 23 April 1972, at age 29, riding Ducati's new 750 racer, based on the

GT750 The Suzuki GT750 is a water-cooled three-cylinder two-stroke motorcycle made by Suzuki from 1971 to 1977. It is the first Japanese motorcycle with a liquid-cooled engine. The Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan includes the 1971 Suzuki ...

roadster. Ducati paid his airfare and £500 wages. His winnings were an additional £6,000. A 750SS road bike and production race version followed, turning into the 1975 900SS which continued until the early 1980s.Race of the Century
Ashonbikes.com Website of the late Kevin Ash. Archived fro
the original
on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2021 In the early 1970s Smart was riding in North America for the Hansen Kawasaki team on air-cooled H2R two-stroke triples.motorbiketimes.com Retrieved 2013-06-21
/ref> He won what was stated to be the richest prize in motorcycling history – over £12,000 – in a 1972 race at Ontario Motor Speedway, California on a Seeley-framed Kawasaki H2R.£12,000 win for Smart. ''

Motorcycle News ''MCN'' or ''Motor Cycle News'' is a UK weekly motorcycling newspaper published by Bauer Consumer Media, based in Peterborough, United Kingdom. It claims to be "the world’s biggest weekly motorcycle newspaper". The title was founded in lat ...

'', 4 October, 1972, p.1 (cover). Retrieved 5 January 2021

Personal life

After making history for Ducati and winning further races, in 1978 Smart finally hung up his leathers and retired from competition to concentrate on his motorcycle business, which he expanded into three separate shops at one stage. He sold the shops and the family caravan park business in Kent, later qualifying as an offshore sailing skipper, formalising his long-time hobby. PaulSmartLE1000

In 2006, Ducati produced a 1000cc limited-edition PaulSmart 1000 LE, in recognition of the 1972 Imola win, designating it Paul Smart 1000LE. It had the advanced-technology of the time, but resembled the 1972 race bike. Smart married

Barry Sheene Barry Steven Frank Sheene (11 September 1950 – 10 March 2003) was a British professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing and was a two-time world champion, winning consecutive 500cc titles in 1976 and 1977 ...

’s sister Maggie in 1971. Son Scott is a former Grand Prix racer who won races in the

British Superbike Championship The British Superbike Championship (BSB), currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, is the leading road racing superbike championship in the United Kingdom, and was once widely acknowledged as the p ...

then turned to Superstock, and is technical director of

World Superbike Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

for the

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. Smart died in a road traffic collision in the afternoon of 27 October 2021, aged 78, while riding his motorcycle in East Sussex and Kent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Paul 1943 births 2021 deaths British motorcycle racers English motorcycle racers People from Eynsford 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders 500cc World Championship riders Road incident deaths in England Motorcycle road incident deaths